Prelude

Something told him that he needed to do it. A strange, desperate

urge to go out in the dangerous daylight and risk his life seemed
strong enough to make him obey. He left the shrouded darkness of the
forest and hurried out into the city. Normally, this amount of sunlight
would kill him, but with the cap, thick sunglasses, long-sleeved t-shirt
and long trousers, he’d probably get away with minor sun-burn.
About an hour later, he arrived at the hospital, albeit a little
singed, to complete his task. He registered to give blood.
“Hi,” he said, grinning weakly at the receptionist. “I’d like to
become a blood donor.”
She handed over a set of forms and he looked at them
disapprovingly.
“If you just fill in these for me and hand them back in when
you’re done.”
“Sure, uh, can I have a pen, please,” he asked, trying to reduce
the gruff edge to his voice by as much as possible.
“Certainly,” she replied, smiling that permanent receptionist
smile. She handed a small blue biro over the counter and he went over
to a table to fill n the forms. Once he had completed them, he returned
to the counter and handed them back.
“Thank you very much, now if you’d just like to come this way,
I’ll get a nurse to take you to one of the clinics, OK?”
“Yeah, thanks,” he replied. He followed a short, rather pretty
nurse down a corridor into a small room. Inside the room, there was a
bed, a desk, a set of drawers and several posters on complicated
medical matters which he didn’t understand.
“If you’d just like to sit here,” she asked, gesturing at the bed.
“Great, now could you roll back your sleeves and we’ll take a small
sample of blood. Once we know that you’re free from any diseases and
we know your type, we’ll ask you back for a proper donation.”
“Um, could you please take the first lot today?” he inquired,
hoping the nurse wouldn’t be too stubborn.
“Not really because we need to ensure that everything is in
order first.”
“Yeah, but you will really need this blood soon and if I don’t start
to donate it now, you will not have enough for when he comes.”
“I’m sorry, but I must follow procedure. I can’t break the rules.
Now, if you just let me take the small sample please.”
“Fine,” he muttered sourly, baring his arm. The needle was
plunged into his skin and a small amount of his blood was taken. He
just hoped that his vampirism would do nothing to affect the sample,
or at least nothing noticeable. He knew well that there was only one
blood type amongst vampires, a blood type currently unknown to
humans. So when the other person came along, there should be just
enough to keep him alive…

A couple of months later, he returned to hospital to give his

blood again. Having already donated several pints, the nurses were
warning him that he couldn’t give too much more, but little did they
know his secret. His body was different to any others that they’ll ever
have come across before. It replaced lost blood in a far quicker time
then any human body would. He wasn’t losing any significant amounts
in the donations.
As they took the blood, he wondered how much more he needed
to give. Whatever it was telling him to give the blood, it wasn’t giving a
very clear insight. Oh well, he thought, I’m sure I’ll know when there’s
enough.
“I’ll tell you what, Mr Smith; you must be a super healer or
something. There’s never a mark where we take the blood from. No
scar or even a scratch,” the nurse remarked. “And aren’t you lucky. I
still can’t believe that you’re the only the person that we’ve met with
this blood type. Amazing.”
“Well, you know,” he murmured, being careful not to give
anything away. The spit of a vampire was extremely efficient when it
came to healing cuts. That was how they drank without being noticed.
They made a small cut on the body of a human, drank as much as they
needed, then sealed the cut with their spit. No-one would ever know
anything odd had happened.
“OK, I’ll see you next time,” she said, smiling warmly at him. He
gave her his farewells and walked through the hospital doors, ensuring
that none of his body was exposed. His skin was still reddened from
the trip here, and he was still putting himself at considerable risk by
walking in the Sun.
No matter, he thought, it’s all for a good cause.
He continued down the side alley, trying to stay as far from the
sunlight as possible, until he reached the suburbs and the entrance to
the forest. He began walking through the trees and he soon reached
his current residence, only to find it had been destroyed.
A foul stench was rising from the site (burned petrol?) and
everything was burnt to a cinder. His bag of essentials was gone, as
was his well hidden food supply. He was so busy evaluating the
damage that he did not notice the gentle footsteps behind him, until it
was too late. A powerful hand clamped around his mouth and the other
arm held him flat. He struggled against them, but couldn’t succeed,
which could only mean one thing. His attacker was a fellow night-
creature.
Although he was held still, his attackers were just restraining
him, preventing him from causing any damage. They hadn’t yet
harmed him.
 “My, my, my,” a sarcastic, evil voice sounded from behind him.
“What have we here? It seems to be the vampire that gave blood, not
drank it. Well, we know what you’re up to and would like to say that
you’ve taken a big risk. We don’t like people who take big risks. They
cause us big problems. I mean, what were you thinking? I would be
thinking - what if the humans discover us?”
He was paralyzed with fear and to worsen it, the strong grip of
his attackers was holding him completely still. He felt his heart
pumping manically in his chest. Suddenly, all of his hard work seemed
a tad stupid and naïve. But something had definitely told him to do it.
Finally, after the long silence, his attacker grunted and the voice
continued.
“My poor henchman has been dying for a kill for days. We’ve
been waiting for the right moment. Now, I’m not one to keep people
waiting, so…”
Without much further warning, he was thrown forwards and a
sword plunged into his back. He fell to the ground, writhing and
contorting as the remains of his precious blood poured out onto the
forest floor…

Chapter 1 – Reminisce

The Sun. It is surely the most bizarre thing in the Universe. I

mean, think about it. There can be no life on the Earth without it, right?
But we vampires can’t live in it either. So, instead, we have all the luck
of either being confined to a Mountain for all of our lives or enjoying
the boredom of a night-time only existence. But, that only applies to
full-vampire, and since I have the pleasure of still being a half-vampire,
I can still go out. Just.
You see, my life is as complicated as can be. My family fled to
England from Lebanon in the nineties and my mother conceived me
during her first few years of living here. Then, when I was only two
years old, my Dad was arrested and detained on charges of terrorism
and various other false charges. The sent him back to Lebanon. He
died after a year and a half of torture.
My mother and I, we wept. He hadn’t done anything. His only
crime was attending a Mosque, run by an extremist Cleric. Mum didn’t
want me to go, so I stayed at home with her. Perhaps it was a good
thing too. We may have been deported back to Lebanon as well.
Then to make things worse, my Mother fell victim to cancer in
1992 and I was left, orphaned. I was just ten years old. I was taken into
care. I hated it there. I couldn’t make friends and everyone kept on
referring to me as ‘Son of a terrorist’ or ‘Bomber boy’. The worst was a
boy called Danny Nichol. He made fun of me more than the rest, and
was the origin of the ‘Bomber boy’ taunt. He punched and kicked me,
and threatened me into keeping it a secret. I withdrew from everything
and cried myself into hiding. But he still came. He beat me and swore
at me and made me feel like filth. It was so hard just to live there and
in the end, I left.
Perhaps it was a good thing that I left because I fear that if I
hadn’t, I’ll never have come across Kit. Kit was the most amazing
person I had ever met. He was a showman, performing at night-time in
bars and restaurants. He could do things that I never thought possible.
I mean, he could heal cuts by spitting on them, jump several feet in the
air and even slice rocks open with his finger nails. I thought he was
amazing. When he offered me a chance to learn his trade, I jumped at
the chance.
He dug his nails into my finger tips and did the same to his own.
He then placed our bleeding tips together and allowed his blood to flow
into me and my blood to flow into him. However, only then did he
reveal the drawback to his talents – he needed to drink human blood to
survive. I shouted at him for not telling me, but he said that he was in
such desperate need of an assistant who could help him during the
daytime.
Eventually, I concurred and realized that it wasn’t such a bad
thing. We took only small amounts of blood and never fatally injured
anyone. Besides, he said, it’ll be years before you reach full vampirism.
It’ll happen after you receive another lot of blood, this time, though, a
lot more than before. I thought it’d be OK, I mean, no-one particularly
knew I existed. I had abandoned the care homes; I had no living
parents and wasn’t enrolled in school. I was nobody.
At this point in History, I felt happy. I felt that I was eternally
young and with Kit guiding me, nothing could go wrong. I spent over
ten years with him, travelling to various places and performing. It was
fun. But after Kit was killed when a train crashed on our way to a new
venue, I had to live on my own. Despite being over twenty years old, I
physically resembled an eleven year old, so I stuck.
Yeah, I was completely messed up. I had no family, no fixed
home and no money. Worst of all, I had no way of getting to human
blood. Kit was the one with the knock-out gas and the healing saliva. If
I tried to drink someone, I’d have to physically harm them or, worse,
kill them. And to make it worse, if I didn’t kill them before I drank,
afterwards, they’d be left to bleed to death. So instead, I left myself to
death.
I had to find a safe way of getting blood. I didn’t want to die
before I reached full-vampirism. I’d probably feel a bit of a joke if I did
(although if I was dead, I don’t suppose I’d really be able to make
anything of it). So, I was doomed to walking around town, feeling
myself get weaker and, my body wasting before my eyes.
That was until I found my solution. I was passing through a road
tunnel when I spotted the poster. It was simple enough. It read:
 ‘Looking for an act to perform shows between 8 and 10. Call
0161 783 4592 or visit us at Benny’s restaurant, 28 Bridge Street.’
Memories of the times that Kit and I performed there flooded
back to me, bringing tears to my eyes. It was my favourite of any of
the restaurants we ever visited because the crowds were so animated
and willing to take part in our little games. Occasionally we’d challenge
members of the audience to beat us at something, but more often we’d
ask anyone to come up to front and I’d lift them. As I looked about
eleven years old, they were always surprised and even the regulars at
the bar enjoyed watching us over and over.
But back on topic, I hear you all cry out, how does that help you
with your blood problem? Well the manager of Benny’s knew
something was up with us when he first met us and quickly cottoned
on to our vampirism. However, he didn’t flee, or try to kill us. No. He
knew us too well and thought we were great, even if we were vampires
over humans. Better still, he allowed us to drink from him! Maybe he’d
be willing to risk it for me now?
I ran down the road, ecstatically, but quickly slowed down
realizing that any humans would just a giant blur racing down the
street. Not good to arouse suspicion. I reached Benny’s half an hour
later to see that it hadn’t changed. The restaurant had changed little
since our last visit, I was glad to say. Kit said that it’d be good to visit
somewhere else and then return later, when all of the people had
changed and our act was a little newer.
I entered the front door and realized already I had a made a
mistake. I had been wearing the same clothes since Kit’s death, just
around a month ago. Torn, dirty and smelly, I looked like I had been
pulled through a bush backwards. It didn’t really surprise me when a
concerned waiter came over, obviously wanting me to leave.
“Er, excuse me son,” he said, looking down at me. “You can’t
come here by yourself, but if you get your parents you can come
back.”
He smiled a stupidly fake smile and I snorted rudely. His
ignorance was angering me. I lowered my voice to one which was deep
and gravely, like the one that Kit used when performing and stared him
coldly in the eye. “Actually,” I quipped, “I was here to see Benny about
the performance vacancy.”
He did a quick double take, trying to figure out where the voice
had suddenly come from, before straightening up and saying, “Look,
son, you have to be 18 to perform here. We can’t legally have
unsupervised minors here.”
I looked at his name badge and learned that his name was
Francis. I grinned and said “Look, Francis, I’m twenty-four years old and
I don’t need people my own age talking down to me, got it?”
“Listen, mate, I don’t want any fuss. Give leave or I’ll have to
take you out.”
 I stood on my tip-toes and whispered in his ear “Try me.”
He looked at me with exasperation before lunging at me, trying
to grab me. With my vampiric speed, dodging him was no problem.
Each time his arms closed, I ducked from his grasp. He grunted with
surprise and tried again, getting more reckless each time. I laughed at
his pathetic efforts as he stood catching his breath, leaning against a
wall.
Then, much to my surprise, he lunged viciously at me, howling in
anger and frenzy. This time, I stood my ground; knees bent and feet
firmly planted on the floor, and extended my right arm. I grasped his
head tightly in my palm and held him for a second. Then, with my free
hand I gripped him just below the rib-cage and hoisted him from the
ground.
“Now,” I hissed in his ear, “I want you to listen for a minute. Can
you manage that or will I have to lift you a little higher?”
“N-n-no,” he stammered, genuine fear showing in his eyes. “I’ll
listen.”
“Good. I want to speak to Benny and you’re going to get him for
me, OK? Tell him that Yusuf Dolmoyan is here to see him.”
“Sure thing,” he murmured, running off to fetch his boss. People
were shifting uncomfortably in their seats, staring at me. I met their
stares and they instantly returned to eating their food.
“Well, well, well,” a familiar voice intoned from behind me. “Look
what we have here. I’d have to say, we’ve missed you terribly.”
“Benny,” I cried warmly, extending my right hand. He took it and
shook it firmly. “It’s fantastic to see you again.”
“Young Yusuf, how can I be of service? Actually, let’s not discuss
these matters here, my office, it is much better there.”
He led me down a small corridor to a nicely furnished little office,
complete with two comfortable leather chairs and a desk. “Please, sit,”
he beckoned.
“Thank you,” I grinned, noticing the glee in his face. He must
have been as happy to see me, as I was to see him.
“Look at you,” he tutted, wrinkling his nose in mock discuss. “You
look like you’ve been dragged through a bush backwards! Besides,
where is my good friend Kit? I have something important to tell him.”
“Ah, well, Kit, um, died in the, um, train crash,” I sighed
miserably. “That’s why I need your help. You see…”
I filled him in on my recent situation. His expression turned to
one of grave regret and sadness.
“So, I’ll tell you what kiddo, here, have a drink now.”
“You sure, I mean, if you can’t stop the blood flow, you might
die.”
“So what,” he quipped. “Death isn’t the worse thing that life can
throw at you.
 With that, he bared his arm and dug the letter opener on his desk
into the flesh. Blood began to spurt from it and he winced with the
pain. But the blood, it looked so delicious. I just needed one small drink
that was all. I placed my hands on either side and sucked on the
wound. The blood was wonderful – so salty and warm. It was like liquid
pleasure. I gulped down my share and held the wound together
between my thumb and forefinger. He winced again and I stuck a large
plaster tightly over it.
“Hopefully that’ll do it,” I said, ensuring it was totally sealed.
“Thank you do much, I mean, I literally owe you my life.”
I felt the energy flooding back into me. My vision was
sharpening, as was my hearing, and my body didn’t feel quite so weak.
It was like instant revitalization.
“Never mind all of that mush,” he laughed, a little shaky from the
blood-loss. “As for a job, would you like to be my performing act?”
“Would I ever?” I exclaimed gleefully.
“Great, you know what though we’ve had no-one since you and
Kit left. All of the regulars, they stay and come up to me and ask, ‘Hey
Benny, where is the entertainer?’ and I can only tell them that I do not
know. Where did you go?”
“Uh, Kit wanted to try out a new venue. I think he thinks our
routine was getting stale.”
“Never!” he cried. “It was the best thing since sliced bread.”
I grinned at the expression. “Well, it’s nice to see we were
appreciated.”
“You sure were. No, for housing, I’m a little short. But, there
happens to be a small flat above this restaurant. Kit used it once, many
years ago, but it has been vacant for a while. Here, I want you to use
it.”
“Awh, do you mean it? I mean, that’s amazing of you. I don’t
want to strain you.”
“No, never,” he laughed. “You are a credit to my restaurant.”
I blushed and followed him out of the office, up the stairs and
onto a small landing. “Here you do kiddo, enjoy.”
He opened the door and let me into a small, furnished room. It
had a bed under a small central window, a wardrobe, a small cabinet
and a fully fitted en-suite.
“Awh, mate, this is just, wow!” I muttered, tears welling in my
eyes. I wasn’t used to such kindness from humans. It was
overwhelming me slightly.”
“Well, you just relax and get yourself cleaned up. I’ll fetch a pair
of my son’s clothes. After that, I want you to go out and buy two suits
and another couple of sets of casual wear. You’ll wear the suits for
shows, yes?”
“Sure, that’s great Benny.”
Yup, that was really great. Why’d it all have to go wrong…?
Chapter 2 – Show-vampire

That brings you right up to date. I looked over at my clock. Only

1:30 in the morning. I roll over to get back to sleep, but find it a
struggle. My night has been odd. One would think that after having
spent the best part of the last decade sleeping rough that I’d bring
grateful for a bed. I mean the gentle caress of the warm, soft sheets
against my cold skin was divine. But it was maybe a little too good. I
was used to having to really try to get to sleep, against all of the noise,
smell and cold of the natural world. Maybe this was all too good for me.
I got up and walked into the en-suite. I stood before the mirror
and stared at my reflection. In the eyes of most, I was just an
extraordinary twelve or thirteen year old. But I was 24. I struggle to
comprehend it. I had been acting like a child for so long and probably
would be for a while to come yet. But, was that good? And now,
without Kit, how was I going to be re-blooded? My full-vampirism could
only be reached by that.
Did that mean, though, that if I wasn’t re-blooded soon, I’d be a
half-vampire forever? How tragic. I’d have the benefit of being able to
survive sunlight and be much stronger than any human, but I’d never
be able to communicate telepathically or flit or heal wounds with my
spit. I felt so helpless, you know?
But I couldn’t help cheer up. There was an amazing opportunity
here that needed to be snapped up. I let a small smile play on my lips.
I raised my hand to the mirror and looked at the small scars running
along my fingertips. For some odd reason, it cheered me greatly to
think back to my blooding.
Most probably it was the thought that it had saved me from my
torturous childhood. People tend to complain a lot about the transition
but for me, it has always been a blessing. It pulled me through tough
times and now, well, I suppose it makes me feel good.
I don’t know why, but after that, I slept instantly after that. I
guess that I was just exhausted. Maybe the good memories of my
blooding put me at ease, relaxing me – but hold on, though, at ease
from what? I didn’t know that I was nervous or anxious. Oh well, sleep
felt better.

When I got up I tried on one of the new pairs of clothes. Clean

shirt, clean trouser, clean underwear, clean socks; I was just in heaven.
I felt so cheerful. There was some money left over from my shopping
spree and Benny had refused to take it back. He said it was the money
he had made from Kit and I performing. It was a lot.
I got on the 550 bus and came off at the Trafford Centre (a giant
shopping mall in the South of Manchester). There, I bought myself a
gleaming Walkman CD player and set about re-discovering human
music. It felt so odd to be so relaxed in the presence of so many
humans. I was so used to living in fear. But now, even my long black,
scraggy hair seemed to fit in. Loads of kids had it. Perfect, I thought to
myself.
Since I resembled them, I thought I’d look at their music. Most of
them were into all of the heavy rock bands, some of the stuff I’d never
heard of. But it did appeal to me. There was a band called Chimaira.
There music looked about right. And another called HIM. The song
names sounded cool and I felt a bit of a connection. ‘Vampire Heart’,
‘Dark Light’, ‘Gone with the Sin’, they all seemed right for me. So, I
collected a handful of theirs CDs and looked about for other popular
bands. I felt like the school-boy I resembled.
A permanent grin had attached itself to my face, the likes of
which I hadn’t experienced for years. Nothing could snap me out of this
mood, I thought blissfully, allowing the scent of cellophane from the CD
wrappers to drift into my nostrils. Divine, I chuckled to myself. So I
walked out of the building. I got back on the bus and stopped off, on
the way back to Benny’s, at a small sandwich bar and bought myself I
cool meat-filled sub, stuffed with as much as I was allowed.
Back outside, I eagerly unwrapped it and chomped greedily into
the layers. Delicious was all I could think of as the juices flowing down
my throat. I was still walking absentmindedly when I collided with
someone in front of me.
“Sorry about that,” I spluttered, bits of meat flying from my
mouth pathetically.
“Hey, you stupid twat!” the boy I walked into roared.
“Sorry,” I whimpered, feeling oddly fearful of him.
“What the hell,” he screamed again, forcing his face into mine.
“Stupid, dirty Mosher!”
“Pardon,” I quavered, not knowing exactly what he meant.
“Yeah, you Mosher scum,” another piped in, the glint of his
jewellery temporarily blinding me. “Look, he’s been to HMV. Let’s see
what shit he’s bought.”
One of the four boys grabbed me and held me against the wall
whilst another emptied the contents of my bag onto the floor.
“Hey!” I screamed, easily wrestling free from the boys grip. “Get
off me and my stuff.”
I quickly gathered it all back into the bag and shoved the boy
that called me ‘Mosher scum’ into a wall. I heard a crack, but it didn’t
bother me. I hoisted the one which held me against the wall up onto
the top of a bus-shelter and then ran, leaving them all stunned and
checking on the boy collapsed on the floor.
I felt cold and empty. I knew I disliked them for a reason.
Humans! They were so naïve. Just because I looked a bit younger than
them doesn’t me that I was! I wanted to scream and drain every one of
them of all of their blood. Yeah, I’d like that very much. I could tie them
up and make each one see the fate of the other’s before it happened
to them.
“No,” I grumbled to myself. “No killing.”
A passer-by gave me a funny look, obviously hearing what I said,
but I didn’t really care. I just ran back to Benny’s, as fast as I could,
and darted into my room. I emptied all of my stuff onto the bed and
checked it for damage. It was all OK, other than a few small scratches.
I breathed a sigh of relief before returning to my anger over the attack.
Mosher! What an insult when I wasn’t even human. I’ll give them a
piece of my mind next time! Ha!
“Hey,” a voice called from behind me. “Are you OK for
tomorrow’s performance?”
“Damn,” I swore under my breath. I hadn’t thought about it at all.
“Uh, yeah,” I replied, hoping they wouldn’t call my bluff. “It’s all
sorted.”
“Alright,” he called back. I heard him return to his office,
obviously making arrangements for my show. So that’s when the
planning started. I was going to make this the best show ever, just to
impress all of my old fans. Not even Kit would have been prepared for
this. Now, I just need a mask…

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please show your appreciation for our

entertainment tonight! It’s Yusuf Dolmoyan.”
“Hullo, everyone, how are you all? Good, well, let’s get started
them.”
The mask I was wearing completely obscured my face – it was
made from soft plastic and looked pretty threatening. It also muffled
my voice a bit, making me seem a little scarier. Plus, by lowering my
voice, I sounded quite old. No-one would guess my real appearance.
“I must warn you, this can be pretty weird.”
I let the audience settle for a moment whilst I prepared my
stage. There was a small can of paint in each of my hands and I had
stretched a long roll of paper across the back wall.
Then, without warning, I started to run from either end of the
stage to the other, as fast as I could, whilst spraying my intricate
design on the wall. It had taken some practising, but I finally got it
sorted. The audience gasped with amazement, when on the paper,
paint seemed to be magically appearing. Eventually I finished and
stood at centre stage, grinning wildly. Behind me the words Yusuf the
Great had been spray painted on the wall, in large, bold, blood-red
lettering.
“Thank you,” I shouted as applause started from the diners.
“Now, I have a fun trick here. I would like to ask a member of the
audience, absolutely anyone, to come up to the front and be my
assistant. But don’t worry, I promise I’m not going to cut you in half.”
 People laughed and several hands went up to be my assistant.
They were mostly under 18, but I wasn’t terribly bothered.
“Now then, who to pick?” I asked aloud, surveying my choices. I
saw one well built muscled teen with a group of his mates. “Alright, you
there, at the back, come on down.”
There were a few disappointed groans, but beneath my mask, I
laughed.
“OK, son, what’s your name?”
“Er, Mike,” he replied, a bit nervous, despite his size.
“OK Mike, now, I want you to help me lift this. I’m a bit stunted
you see. Not good for heavy weights. See that table at the back; I want
you to carry it over to me.”
It looked ordinary in all respected, but under its flimsy wooden
top was a solid stone base, all of the legs filled with concrete too. He
walked over to it and I encouraged the crowd to cheer him on. He bent
down at the knees and prepared to lift it. He lifted upwards and it
wouldn’t move. He tugged persistently, puffing and panting, but still
couldn’t get it up.
“Nah mate,” he panted, “that’s impossible.”
“OK, get one of your mates up. No, get all of them. Go on, all of
you, come up to the front and help Mike.”
Sure enough, they all came and crowded around my special
table. They all lifted together and they managed to raise it a few
centimetres off the ground.
“Come on lads,” I urged them, laughing heartily. “You can do it.”
They lifted again, a few centimetres up again, but it fell and they
all collapsed on the stage floor.
“Alright, alright, don’t injure yourselves. Now, all of you, would
you say that that’s impossible to lift?”
“Yeah,” they all agreed.
“Well, what do you say to this?”
With my right hand I grasped the table leg and pulled it easily off
the ground and held it high above my head. I gently lowered it down,
much to everyone’s amazement.
“Now, all sit on it, or stand if there’s not enough room.”
They all complied and I lifted the table, more carefully now that
six lads were sat on it, and again held it above my head.
“Thank you very much,” I cried, as the applause started again. I
lowered the boys to the floor and stopped Mike leaving. “So, what are
you all here for then lads?”
“Uh, it’s my fifteenth.”
“Cool, let’s have a round of applause for my great assistant Mike.
Happy fifteenth mate.”
“Cool,” he said. “Uh, thanks!”
He ran off and joined his friends, whilst they finished their food.
 “Now, for something a little different. Could I have another
volunteer, but this time preferably an adult?”
People were a lot more cautious to volunteer this time, but I
eventually got a few hands and I picked a middle-aged woman, out
with her partner and child.
“Hi there,” I greeted her, extending my hand. “I’m Yusuf, and
who may you be?”
“I’m Anna,” she replied.
“Awh, Anna, what a lovely name. Well now Anna, you see on this
small cabinet here, there is a small metal sheet. Could you bring it over
to me?”
She walked over and braced herself for a heavy lift. She pulled so
hard that she fell backwards with the sheet, clearly surprised that it
wasn’t a trick.
“Now, pass it over to me.”
She did and I pulled off my right glove. My long fingernails were
now exposed and I ran my index fingernail along the metal, slicing it
like it was foil. I cut into two equal pieces.
“I want you to take you nails and try to write my name in that,
whilst I do the same for you, OK? If you can’t do it, don’t hurt yourself.
I’ll have another use for that metal myself!”
I began furiously scratching away at the metal, allowing the
audience to see. I didn’t look at Anna, but I could tell that she was
struggling from the sighs and groans she was making.
“Anna is your name with one or two ns?”
“Two,” she replied, whilst replacing the metal on the cabinet. I
finished what I was doing and then handed her the sheet. Her name
had been carved into the metal, using looping italic letters. I had
expected a slightly longer name, so I extended the frills and curls
instead, filling up the sheet.
“It’s beautiful,” she gasped, “But how did you do that.”
“Now, now!” I exclaimed, “I wouldn’t be much of a showman if I
told you that would I? Go on and a round of applause for Anna
everybody, well done!”
She returned to her family, still in awe. I grinned from beneath
my mask and lifted up the other piece of metal.
“I told you I’d use this, and I will, but it is going to be my last
trick for tonight, alright folk? After what I’m going to do next, you’ll
probably be sick of my anyway.”
There was a small laugh. I reached for the bottom of my mask
and lifted it slowly from my face. I heard a gasp of shock from the
audience and grinned my innocent smile. I raised my voice to a more
childish pitch and laughed.
“What, did you think I was an adult or something?”
Everyone was silent as I placed the metal in my mouth. I
clamped down hard on it and bit through it. I spat the piece of metal
onto the table and then held up the remaining sheet. There was a
perfect bite mark on one corner.
“Hey, hey,” I chuckled, lifting the table back up and returning it
to its original position. “If anyone has a question, I’d be honoured to
answer you.”
Almost every hand went up.
“How old are you?” one person asked.
“If I tell you, you wouldn’t believe me,” I replied, grinning slyly.
“Come on,” everyone called, beckoning for me to reveal it.
“OK then, I’m twenty four years old.”
There were a few more gasps but mostly laughs. “Well, I told you
that you wouldn’t believe me.”
After that, there were a few question about my nails and my
strength and I answered them with mysterious half-truths – ‘they’re
just like that’.
I took a bow at the centre of the stage and then walked off onto
the table where Benny was sat.
“Amazing,” he breathed, patting me on the back. “It was just
perfect. Why would Kit say that was boring?”
“I dunno,” was my answer and it was pretty accurate. I loved
these performances and it seemed that the audiences did too.
“Here,” he said, handing me a plate. “I know that you like it
pink.”
He handed me a plate with a steak and all of the trimmings on it.
The steak was half cooked, as I liked it and everything else was perfect
too.
“This is amazing, thank you,” I said, gratefully.
“No, thank you. I mean it Yusuf, we owe you a lot.”
“Geez thanks Benny,” I muttered, a bit embarrassed. I ate the
meal and then I got up to walk to my room.
“Oh, before you go Yusuf, I’d like you to meet Mr Nichols. He’s a
very good friend of mine. He says that he saw your act a very long
time ago and he came here every week, waiting for you to return. I told
you that you were popular.”
The man stood and shook my hand. He had a face I couldn’t
quite place. He was staring at me creepily, his blue eyes firing hate at
me. I didn’t like it – he seemed to know what he wanted. After shaking
his hand, I got up and walked off to my room, but I couldn’t quite shake
his presence from me. I could still feel his stare drilling icy holes into
me. I could still feel the air of anger about him. He seemed so angry,
but hid it as well as a human could behind a cool façade.
I shivered and shrugged him from me. I changed out of my
clothes and checked my clock. It was only 9:30. I showered and went
to bed, preparing for a night of hunting and exercise. My legs were
bursting to go on a longer run after my warm-up on the stage.
 I woke up at around four in the morning. That should be fine, I
thought, and began to walk out of the room. I crept silently along the
corridor and let myself out of the back door. I carefully closed the door
behind me, anxious not to make too much noise. I ran as fast as I could
long the roads, eventually leading out to the vast fields in the newer
suburbs.
I ran around the field in small circles and wore off some of the
excess energy I had accumulated recently. It was odd, before, I was
eager to conserve energy and in the space of two days I was desperate
to use it up. Eventually, I stopped and slowed. I climbed stealthily into
a tall tree and waited for my prey to come out.
Vampires were natural hunters – it was instinct. I could live off
human meals, sure enough, but it didn’t feel the same as honestly
killing your own food and preparing it for yourself. I waited for a few
minutes and lo, a large round rabbit ran out of the clearing. I waited for
it to stop and jumped down beside it, with the awesome stealth of the
vampires.
Its head jerked around quickly to see what was approaching. I
remained in prefect stillness, slowing my breathing to make as little
noise as possible. It checked a couple more times before returning to
its dawn feeding. That was when I dived on it and grasped it by the
neck. I sunk my long, sharp nails into its throat and jerked its head
sharply from side to side. In a moment or so, the rabbit fell limp and I
had successfully hunted and killed it. I grinned to myself and slung the
carcass across my back. I crept back into the forest and found my way
to a central clearing. A lit a small fire and roasted the small animal.
The scents of the meat soon filled my nostrils and I couldn’t
resist taking a small bite. Delicious, I thought hungrily. Soon, it looked
and tasted thoroughly cooked so I removed it and devoured the flesh.
Hoping to discard any evidence, I dug a small hole into the ground and
buried the carcass and the ashes from the fire. I patted down the earth
and spread some of the nearby plants and leaves across it.
“Fantastic,” I chuckled heartily to myself as I returned to Benny’s.
I turned the familiar side-street and re-approached the restaurant. I
heard a quite click to my left, and I span around instinctively. I saw
nothing. The silence of the night-time city was no becoming a bit of a
curse. There were a few more rustling noises to my left. I turned again,
expecting to see something. But no, there was nothing.
I returned to the restaurant slightly nervous. I felt eyes on my
back, although I couldn’t place where they were coming from. Even as I
showered (again) I felt slightly panicky. As I lay in bed, my fears
became exaggerated. Every movement outside caused me to jump up
and check. There was never anything suspicious, the only thing worth
anything of a mention was a party of drunks staggering home after a
party.
 But that didn’t soothe my fears. I turned on the small television
in the corner of the room and let the night-time news put me to sleep…

Chapter 3 – Fear

“And the discovery of the new-blood type, Type C, is still being

regarded as a mistake by the medical community. Senior doctors are
dismissing the findings of a Manchester Research team to be a mistake
and something which will easily be corrected. Since there has only ever
been one person of this blood type, the Research team decided that a
mutation had occurred resulting in this new, previously unheard of
blood type. Could this finally be the evolutionary step forward that
scientists are looking for?”
My ears pricked up, but that seemed to be the end of the report.
Blood was an easy word to attract a vampire to a conversation with.
Perhaps it was a genuine discovery and the human race was finally
evolving. Maybe this would be the first in several cases where new
traits would be noticed, eventually leading to something odd like green
skin or the ability to breath underwater. Ha! What a thought!
Suddenly, memories of the previous night rushed back to me and
I became slightly nervous again. Had someone been watching me?
Were they following me? I guess it would be odd – a twelve year-old
letting himself in a house at two in the morning. It could be worse –
they may know that I’m a vampire! I panicked madly and guilt began
to gnaw mercilessly at my insides like termites eating through a
wooden chest.
I nibbled nervously at my fingernails – which could have done
with done with the trim – and paced the room. I had to be more careful
as exposing myself, as a vampire would cause immediate popularity.
Most people are unlike Benny and believe in the vampires of myth, that
is to say those that kill all that they drink from and are driven by a mad
lust. They would kill me instantly, so naturally I was very fearful.
I waited for Benny to arrive and consulted him on what he
thought.
“It was probably just a drunk, Yusuf,” he explained. “On Friday
nights you get lots of them, after they drank too much at a party. Don’t
worry, eh?”
“OK,” I replied, not really taking Benny’s solution. Secretly, I
don’t think that he swallowed it either, but he was trying to console
me. I was certain that someone was watching and…
Suddenly, the man with the cold blue eyes suddenly came back
into my mind. It was him, I felt sure of it. My instincts were telling me
that it was him, as did my mind. I scanned his face in my mind and
tried to put a name to it. Much to my annoyance, I couldn’t and it
remained a blank in my mind.
I returned to my room and brooded it over, whilst listening to the
Chimaira CD. I liked that CD. I remembered seeing posters for bands
like this when I was with Kit and I always wondered what they’d be like
and I guessed that I was getting a taster. Maybe when I had enough
money from my performances, I’d buy a ticket to one of their shows.
Yeah, that’d be fun, I thought.
I mimicked playing the guitar halfway through and let my long
hair swing from side to side as I rocked about. My mind quickly drifted
from the nameless face and I was soon lost in the world of heavy-riffs
and angry lyrics.

That night, I wasn’t sure what my dream was about. At first, I

was running from something. Then it seemed I was running after
something – a dark figure that was always the exact same distance
ahead of me, no matter how much I slowed or accelerated. I was stood
between two people. When I turned around to see the person behind
me, he darted out of my vision.
It was one of those frustrating dreams. Nothing ever changed; I
was just running down a long, dark corridor chasing and being chased.
The hunter became the hunted and then the hunter again. I scowled
and heard the figure in front calling my name. His voice was familiar
but as with the glaring face, I just couldn’t put a name to it. It was a
cold, jeering voice that sounded as though it was intent on mocking
me.
“Come on Bomber-boy, Bomber boy, Bomber boy.”
Suddenly, I jerked awake in my bed. I knew exactly who the voice
was. It was the same voice that I feared in the children’s home every
night and day. It was also the voice that had belonged to the face; only
the face was much older now. The piercing blue eyes and the strong
smell. It was Danny Nichols.

I tried to get the picture out of my mind but his evil face just
seemed to follow me relentlessly. I tried to block it out with music. I
tried to watch the TV. I tried going to sleep. Each time though my
attempts were in vain. His cold, hard unforgiving eyes were boring
holes into me. What if he knew what I was? Was he a vampire hunter? I
panicked again. He could kill me. I didn’t want to face death again after
finally finding a new chance.
I would have to have to leave Benny’s so soon. I hadn’t even
done two shows. But a vampire’s home was not with humans, as much
as I’d like it to be. I was running a needless risk – I could just go and
live in the mountain and train with the vampires. Or I could go into
hiding. Actually, no, I couldn’t go into hiding, as I still would be able to
drink. I’d be dead in a matter of weeks.
I just had to be careful – no more hunting or night-time runs. I
needed to be extra careful. Yeah, that’d be fine, so long as I was
careful. OK, that’s better. But back to the main issue – how did Danny
Nichols find me? Benny’s was miles away from the old care home that I
met him in. That must mean that he’d been looking for me. That was
what Benny said didn’t he?
“He says that he saw your act a very long time ago and he came
here every week, waiting for you to return.”
Right, so he definitely knew it was me. Maybe he wasn’t actually
angry with me. It may just have been a ploy to make me nervous. Nah,
that’s stupid. Maybe he was angry with something else and I felt it.
Better.
I ran through several more possibilities, dismissing each one as
quickly as I thought it, before eventually regaining sleep. When I woke
up again the next morning, my insides still felt knotted. I had to sort it
out. Next time I met him, I’d confront him. Yeah, I’d confront him. I
mean, as a vampire, I would win.
That made me feel a little bit better so for the remainder of the
day, I just lounged around and listened to my music. I also read some
of the books that I had found in the wardrobe. They were adult
detective novels, but I guess they were quite interesting. And, they
successfully diverted my attention from you-know-who.
Then Benny came up to see me.
“You know that waiter you, err, how should I say this, Shook-up?
Well, he, err, he quit. I’m afraid we’re a waiter down.”
I stared at him guiltily. Oh dear, I’ve scared off his staff. Purely
out of guilt, I suddenly chirped in by saying, “Hey, I’ll step in if you
want.”
“Oh,” he exclaimed, taken aback. “I was going to ask you to be
more careful, not be so angry. But, if you don’t mind, that would be
even better. There are always people willing to step in, but never
someone like you.”
“Sure, I’ll work as a waiter. It’ll make me feel like I deserve the
good treatment I get.”
“Oh, actually, you can’t. Remember, you still only look twelve
years old.”
“Ah,” I muttered, slightly embarrassed. After enjoying it for so
many years, perhaps my super-childhood was becoming a bit of a
hindrance. “I could try to, uh, I could say that I, uh, no, I-”
“It doesn’t matter. Like I say, many people would be happy to
take his place. You just relax and plan ahead for Friday. These next few
days may go by in a flash.”
“Yeah,” I agreed half-heartedly. There goes that plan. So, I was
stuck indoors, scared to go out, to young-looking for work. What was I
supposed to do all day? Planning the shows took about a minute and
I’d rather do it an hour or so before, so it was fresh in my head. I
flopped back onto my bed and considered the possibilities of running
into Danny Nichols. They were next-to-none and I was probably just
worrying about nothing.
I got changed into one of the pairs of clothes and grabbed my
door-key. Along with the remains of my wage I stuffed it into my pocket
and set off for the town again. This time, I took the scenic route.
Hopefully, my worries would melt away, just like everything else.
Birds flew past me, singing gentle songs. From the corners of my
eyes I caught rabbits running about, frolicking and bouncing. The
sheep in the field chewed grace with the air of cool that I only wish I
could share. But that’s not the life for me. Not the life for any vampire.
I kicked a stone and it flew off, bouncing along the various nooks
and crannies in the path. It was quiet here and I could pretty much
hear everything within a 500m radius. Every little footstep of every
rabbit, every note of every birdsong, even the commands of an old
man to his dog – I heard it all.
SNAP!
I swivelled around rapidly and listened out carefully. Someone
was near me. I knew it. No rabbit could snap a twig like that. This was
something big, like another person. I listened carefully, for anything to
give away their location. Hearing nothing, I continued walking, only at
a brisker pace. For a while I heard nothing and was about to breathe a
heavy sigh of relief when,
SNAP!
This time, I was certain someone was following me. Stopping
dead in the middle of the path, I strained my ears for even the smallest
give-away. Even the smallest breath would do. Slowing my breathing
helped too and soon I was standing in a silent country lane, waiting for
someone to make a wrong move.
Several minutes passed. Once again, fears that I had misheard
were creeping up on me. I remained still for a few more minutes and
then began to take a step forwards when I heard it. It was a small
whispering sound. I trained my ears on it and deduced it was a human
voice, or possibly one of a vampire.
It was coming from the forest at the edge of the lane. Knowing
that it was hidden and very isolated, I didn’t particularly want to go in,
but an instinct told me that all of my fears would be settled if I went in.
Stealthily, I made my way to the trees, still listening for the whisper.
Every so often, I heard it murmur something, it was definitely the same
thing each time, and I altered my direction slightly, so it remained
directly in front of me.
The whispers were getting louder now. They were almost in front
of me. Finally, the source of the whispers was so close that I could
determine that it was either in one of two trees.
 I stared long and hard at the two trees, trying to identify where
the voice was coming from. Finally, I decided that it was coming from
the one on my right. It was also the larger of the two trees – naturally
the better one to hide in. I walked over to the tree and stood cautiously
beneath it. Looking up into the branches, I saw nothing out of the
ordinary.
The whispers came to an abrupt halt. I looked up and saw a small
black speaker attached to the one of the branches. I pulled it down and
examined it more closely. It was connected directly to anything which
meant there must have been a transmitter somewhere.
SNAP!
I whirled around a little too late. A dark figure, dressed entirely in
black was stood behind me brandishing a short-sword. I began to run
away, but the sword was thrown, like a dagger, straight into my back. I
staggered on forwards, blind and weakened by the pain. I heard
footsteps behind me. It was a dog-walker. Hoping that they’d help me, I
flung myself forwards, using up every last bit of energy I had, and
collapsed into a bleeding heap.

Chapter 4 – Transition

“Wha-Wha-where, ugh.”
“It’s OK, just relax don’t move. That was a nasty injury. Just hold
still and you should be OK.”
Memories and pain both suddenly kicked back into action. I had
been in the park and someone had attacked me. Much to my
discomfort, I had a sword wound in my back. I wanted to fidget and
move about, but the pain was really immobilizing. I groaned and raised
my right arm. It was connected to something, as was my left.
My eyes opened timidly and the light instantly forced them
closed. It was agony. Suddenly, I think I knew exactly how Kit had felt
during the day-time.
“The-the-the lights,” I stammered, trying to keep my eyes
clamped shut. “Please, t-t-turn the lights d-down.”
“OK, err, just hold on a moment.”
Even with my eyes shut, the lighting was fierce. The red glow
through my eyelids gradually dimmed and I cautiously opened an eye.
It was slightly better.
“Urgh,” I moaned.
“It’s OK. Just don’t move and you’ll be fine.”
That was easier said than done. It was like pain was alive and
trying to wriggle from my back. I wanted it to go too, so I kept on
turning slightly, only to gasp with the pain and instantly straighten out
again.
 “Why were the lights so high?” I wheezed my throat dry and
tight.
“They weren’t. It was just the light from the window, but you’ve
had a major shock and been unconscious for the better part of three
days. It’ll wear off soon, I promise.”
I squinted through the hazy eyes and tried to make out who I was
talking to. From the voice, I’d have to guess it was a woman. But my
eyes just couldn’t focus for very long. I’d have guessed that she had
brown hair and was fairly short, but other than that, I’d have to say
that I couldn’t see her.
There was a mad itching on my face. I wanted to rake it with my
fingernails, taking off the skin. As the effects of my long sleep wore off,
I suddenly felt really energetic. I kept on trying to get up, I felt like I
could run for miles, only to be held back by both the pain and the
various wires.
“I have to say, your recovery has been quite amazing. You lost a
substantial amount of blood and we’ve only ever come across one
person with your blood type. Luckily, he was quite a prolific donor.
We’ve had just enough to see you through the roughest stretches and
now, the wound has almost healed. It’s like there was only ever a mild
scratch now. The skin is a little pink, but hey, it’s an amazing recovery
none the less.
“Our only major concern was the hair growth. We’d shave it off
and a few hours later it’d be back, obscuring our view. You seem to also
have grown a beard and quite a moustache since you arrived. It was
one of the things which worried us at first, but it doesn’t seem to be
doing you any harm.”
Moustache? Cool. I hadn’t any facial hair last time I checked.
Maybe I was hitting puberty and it was trying to catch up for the ten
year delay. Or maybe it was…
Good God! They gave me blood. I pretty much had vampire blood
now and that mysterious donor must have been as well – no other type
was like the Vampire’s type. And that meant I had effectively been re-
blooded. Was I a full-vampire now? It would explain the sensitivity to
light. Maybe the hair was a side-effect too. Wow. That was it. No more
daylight and no more half-vampire-ness for me. I was the real deal. I
felt so excited. Finally, I’d be able to drink without causing a danger. I’d
be able to breathe knock-out gas.
My mind was in overload. So much good had come out of the
attack. I never thought that I’d be glad that I had been stabbed. Well, I
suppose every cloud has a silver lining of some sort. Even after
thinking that I couldn’t help but cringe – what a human thing to say.
But who was it that attacked me? They had been following me
and tricked me into believing that someone was in the tree. A speaker!
I couldn’t believe I fell for it. Perhaps the shady figure was Danny
Nichols? Were the police investigating it? They must be, I concluded, if
I had been called into hospital with a stab wound.
I opened my eyes again. The curtains at the window had been
drawn, but light was still creeping in. I cursed inside my head and
again tried to focus on the woman sat near me. I could see her a little
bit better now, but not considerably. She had a pretty, delicate face
and looked only about twenty years old. Other than that, I was still
unable to tell.
“I can’t believe you’ve gotten so much stronger, I mean you
barely need the machines to keep you going. You ought to be off them
in no time at all. But first, could we please take your name?”
“Uh, yeah,” I whispered, not wanting to stretch my vocal chords.
“I’m Yusuf Dolmoyan.”
“OK, I’m Janice. Nice to meet you,” she greeted me. I closed my
eyes again and sighed. This was no good at all. I really needed a
shave, was stuck in a bed attached to some weird machines and was
literally allergic to sunlight!
“When will I be able to get up? This is really starting to feel
uncomfortable.”
“Odd,” she murmured. “Most patients are dying for painkillers
after recovering from a wound like yours but you just say it’s bugging
you. You must have a very high pain tolerance, Mr Dolmoyan. However,
we can’t let you go until we’re certain that there is now major internal
damage and that we’re sure that you’ll be OK in the future. Also, we’ll
run a check on you to try to understand how you’ve healed. Maybe it’s
this Type C blood of yours.”
I grinned weakly before fidgeting a little and wincing as the tubes
connected to my arms wriggled beneath my skin. Even as a vampire,
that was a vile feeling. She was right, it was my blood doing all of
these odd things, but humans would never be able to understand why.
They may analyze the blood and find all things, but a vampire isn’t all
unlike a human. The similarities are much greater than the differences.
So, I closed my eyes firmly and tried to get to sleep. Every so
often, I’d wake up and fidget a little, but I soon nodded off again.

---

The wound had healed nicely. That was a problem because I had
just been stabbed. To my knowledge, the puncture wound had been an
inch or so deep. That kind of damage didn’t just heal like that so the
hospital was eager to run tests on me. Then, they wanted to test my
blood further to understand more about this odd blood type.
Then, I had a visit from Benny. He arrived and came into the
ward after told the nurses that I was staying in a rented flat above his
restaurant.
 “Yusuf, what the hell happened to you? You didn’t look this old a
few days ago.”
I grinned beneath the moustache and looked to Benny who,
thank God, was standing by a wall without a window,
“I lost a lot of blood and they gave me some more,” I said. I
lowered my voice so the nurses couldn’t hear, “It was vampire blood.
I’m a full vampire now. As far as I know, that’s where the beard came
from.”
“So I take it the daylight is burning you?”
“Well, the hair seems to be protecting me from much of the
damage and the curtains are drawn so really, it’s just hard to see.”
“Do you think that you can still do the act? It would be a pity if
you had to go so soon”
“Yeah, I uh, think -,”
I suddenly gasped with pain. My lower right leg felt like it was
going to explode, my right leg soon following. I frantically grabbed for
the button to signal the nurses and Janice rushed over, wondering why
I was in such distress. She administered me a painkiller and the awful
grinding sensation was reduced – but I could still feel it. I wanted to
curl up into a tight ball and suddenly pop out and run around in circles.
It was agonising.
“Yusuf, take it easy, OK? Don’t you go and, uh, hurt yourself,
eh?”
“OK Benny,” I winced as he left. On his way out, I saw someone
watching me from the door. It was that cold blood-eyed stare that
recently haunted me. Danny Nichols. The usual calm, cool expression
was affixed to his face. I was about to yell out and make a fuss when
he turned and fled. There was no point doing anything now. I may as
well have just waited until I was better. Then I’d find him and show him
how to fight fair – vampire style.
“Oh, er, Yusuf,” Janice called out. “There’s a policeman that
wanted to question you – being stabbed isn’t your run of the day
event. I said he’d have to come back in a few weeks but I ran into him
again since. He’s coming again tomorrow.”
“Great, just bloody brilliant,” I muttered angrily under my breath.
I could live without the police right now if I’m honest. Instead of
making a fuss though I just smiled to her and let her walk on by
thinking it was all OK. But as a matter of fact, I could barely get up
without being blinded by the Sun and my body was growing day by
day. Since waking, I was sure that I had grown at least a few
centimetres and I still needed a shave. Sure, I cut off the beard and
‘tache but they grew back in a few hours. They weren’t at homeless
length anymore, but it still looked really scruffy.
But all of the time, my bones were growing manically. Any X-rays
or measurements doctors took of me had to be retaken again as soon
as they wanted to do anything. It was as frustrating for them as it was
for me. And as all of my senses were going haywire, my head felt like it
was going to explode. The noise was the worst thing. I had to stay in
my ward with my cushion fixed firmly over my head, which was a major
discomfort, to get any relief. Luckily, my ward was quite small and only
one other person was there. She’d been hit by a car and only narrowly
escaped, her injuries far more life threatening than mine.
So, another day passed and I was getting seriously frustrated. I
strongly disliked all of this lying around all day and since I was as good
as healed, I practically insisted on leaving. But no, they said, you must
stay until we are satisfied that you are fully healed. And then there was
the police to deal with. But to make things even worse, I couldn’t go
out during the day. What was going to be my excuse for that?
When I woke up the day that the police were going to arrive, I
just knew that something bad was going to happen. I mean, I knew
that something was definitely going to happen. It was like some kinda
twisted gut instinct. Maybe I was just scared of the police interview. Or
perhaps it was the Transition screwing me around. Yeah, that was most
likely.
So, when the scent of fire wafted into my nostrils, I thought
nothing of it. It’s just that goddamn sense of smell of mine acting up, I
decided. But when the fire alarm began to wail and a red light began to
flash, my mind went into overload. The noise was deafening against
my sensitive ears and the lights were blinding me. Plus, it was a sunny
day. If they expected me to go outside into the inferno they were so
wrong. Instead, I just collapsed in an exhausted confused heap on the
floor, blinding lights obscuring my vision…

Chapter 5 - Resolve

“Come on Yusuf, I need to get you out of here. You mustn’t die
now. Come on!”
I tried to open my eyes but I couldn’t take the light. It’s like
waking up to a torch being shone in your face, only this torch is a
million miles away and is the Sun. Also, my eyes stung from the fire,
which was evidently still burning. I try to get up but instantly fall down
again. My legs have no energy. It’s that goddamn transition, I cursed
angrily to myself.
“Come on,” the muffled voice yelled out. “Just stand up and take
a step forwards towards me. Come on, you can do it!”
That voice, I knew that voice. I tried to place a name by it but it
was a little too muffled for me to be able to tell.
“You’re going to suffocate if you don’t get out. Not even a
vampire can take this. Come on!”
The voice knew I was a vampire. That was not what I was
expecting but it spurred me on. I got up and tried again to take a step
forwards. I stumbled and fell, but fell towards the voice. I heard
someone jump backwards to get out of my way. I could smell vile
smoke all around me. I knew what this person meant – it was
suffocating.
“Don’t give up now,” the voice urged almost desperately. “You’re
so close. I just need to you to come here Yusuf. Just a few more steps
and you’ll be safe. Don’t worry. There’s a shelter from the Sun too, but
only if you get out of here. Come on!
That was it. If he knew everything about me and was still trying
to help, then he can’t be an enemy. I clambered to my feet for what
felt like the hundredth time and tried to make it to the person talking
to me. I knew that voice from somewhere. I was sure of it.
“That’s it. You’re safe now. Just try to open your eyes carefully. It
should be a little easier here. Promise that you won’t freak out though
when you see me?”
Huh? What does he mean? Who is he? I’m sure I know that voice
and it’s…
I opened my eyes. It was Danny Nichols.

“Where the hell am I? You tried to kill me you sick…”

“No, no, no,” he stammered, trying to hold me back. But a
vampire against a human was no match. I had him held high against a
wall in a few seconds. He stopped struggling as soon as I lifted him.
“Just listen for a minute,” he screamed, obviously distressed. “For
starters, you said you wouldn’t freak when you saw me. Second, I
didn’t attack you. Finally, I had to tell you. I’ve been trying to help you,
not hurt you. Why would I save you from a fire if I wanted to kill you?
Why would I take you all the way out to my own home if I wanted to kill
you?”
“Maybe it was because you actually wanted a fair fight this
time,” I retorted, “Rather than attacking me from behind. That was a
dirty trick Danny.”
“Look you stupid git,” he snapped suddenly, even causing me to
stop. “I didn’t try to kill you but if you don’t put me down, I have it very
easily in my power to have you killed, got it? I just want to talk. I know
about you. If you make one false move, your secret’s out.”
“Yeah?” I challenged. I was sure he was just bluffing anyway.
“What makes you think I’m gunna let you go?”
“What makes you think I haven’t already told people?”
That made sense, I supposed. I lowered him to the ground.
Maybe it would be worth listening to what he had to say.
“Right,” I grunted. “Say what you gotta say.”
“Thanks,” he muttered sarcastically. “I’ve been trailing you for a
couple of days and-”
“Wait, so it was you behind the bins?”
 “Yeah, I needed to make sure it was definitely you. So, I naturally
quite glad to find out that it was you. You see, I needed some help with
a minor problem.”
“What, you needed a body guard or something?” I joked.
“Come on Yusuf, just let me finish! No, I didn’t need a body
guard. I just needed a favour. I wasn’t happy at any of the care homes,
just like you weren’t and I know that I made life bad for you, but went
you vanished everyone thought you had died. There were missing child
things for ages and then, they just stopped. You were just lost. That
was their conclusion.
“So, I wanted to know where you had gone. It had been about a
year and even the worst vanishings are usually resolved in that kind of
time. I knew you were still around. I didn’t know why I wanted to find
you. It just felt like something I had to do. Something in my head was
telling me that I had to find you.”
“It was probably a heavy conscious,” I whispered dryly to myself.
“Yeah, yeah, funny,” he replied. “But then I realized it Yusuf. It’s
because I wanted to join you. I wanted to join the vampire clan. As a
human, my life is wasted. I have no qualifications, no real home and no
parents. I’m just a stupid orphan with nowhere to go. Would you let me
join you? Could I become one of you? I know about everything, from
the blooding to the spit. Please, this is my only salvation.”
“Oh quit being such a drama,” I mocked, throwing a mock punch
against his arm. Coming from a vampire, it probably hurt and bit, but
there wouldn’t be any damage. Hopefully. Then I confessed my only
fear. “I don’t know if I’ll live for much longer though.”
“Oh, but I know who’s attacking you. It’s Benny. I’m sure of it.
He’s in league with some dude. He wants all stray vampires dead.”
I felt my heart plummet. Benny was out to get me. No, I wouldn’t
believe it. Danny was the one I had no reason to trust. I had my life in
Benny’s hands.
“Why should I believe you? Up until know, I can’t think of any
reason at all to trust you.”
“Why would I lie? If I want you to blood me, then surely I’m
gunna be honest with you. I want to be able to do everything that the
vampires do. And to live for hundreds of years, that would be
phenomenal. Just think of the things we could see.”
“Yeah,” I murmured, trying to think straight. So, if it was Benny
trying to kill me, what was I gunna do with the rest of my time? I
couldn’t go back there. He might try to kill me again. I guess it made
sense though. How else would a human know that I was a vampire?
And even if a human did, they’d have to know me very well to be able
to find out where I lived. If I blooded Danny, I’d have someone else to
talk to. I would be so lonely. But, could I really bring another human to
the world of the vampires? What if I died and he had to struggle like
me? Then, I came up with the solution.
 “Danny, here’s my offer. If you help me sort this mess out, I’ll
blood you.”
“Wow, really,” he exclaimed, shocked. “Well, I know that Benny’s
teaming up with them. That night when you went out hunting, I had
been following Benny. He was going out to the park; you know the old
one off the estate?”
Grinning, I thought back to the old park. We used to play on
there when I was in the children’s home. I used to love just sitting on
the swings. I very rarely actually moved. Just sitting was fine for me.
“Yeah, I remember it well.”
“Well,” he continued, much more relaxed than before. I think
after agreeing to blood him, he felt massively better. “I was following
them and he was talking to a pair of people. I heard him mention your
name a few times and he told them that you were living above his
restaurant. Then he told them to kill you. They were told to take every
chance.”
I felt so cold hearing about that. Benny betraying me so
blatantly; I couldn’t grasp it. No matter what was said, it felt so wrong.
He had helped me only to kill me?
“When he finished talking, he got into a car and drove off. The
other two just walked away, towards the estate. So, I was going to
warn you after your hunt. I hid by the dustbins. I was really nervous
and when you came up to me, I just fled. I was seriously spooked. And
then I heard that you were in hospital and came to visit. But when you
got all crazy about it, I just fled – again.
“So, when someone triggered the fire alarms in the hospital, I
knew that you’d be pretty screwed so I thought I’d try and save you.
These guys really want to kill you for whatever reason.”
I stood still and thought for what he said for a few moments. Why
would people want me dead? As far as I knew, I hadn’t done anything
to create enemies. Maybe Kit did something and because he died, they
were out to get me too. It could have been the case, I supposed.
“So what do you think we should do,” Danny asked, looking at
me intently. I returned his gaze and realized something. Although he
was still looking down, du to the height difference, in his eyes he was
really admiring and looking up to me. In his eyes there was a look of
pure inspiration. I grinned at him and tried to think of a plan.
“You know what Danny, my friend, I think we should go and work
it out as we go along.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” he grinned back, moods suddenly
much higher.
So, we both left his ‘home’ and set of outside, for whatever
deeds awaited us.

---
 The road was long before us. Danny was full of questions about
vampires. Despite thinking he knew a lot, he’d only just scratched the
surface. Besides, I wasn’t a good teacher because I didn’t know very
much myself. Since Kit had gone and gotten himself killed, I had no
source of knowledge and had to rely very heavily on my memory
which, no matter how good, would never be perfect.
“Oh and Yusuf?” he piped up, his voice a little quaky.
“What’s up?” I grunted, trying to keep my thoughts on our plans.
“I’m sorry for all of the shit back at the care home. That wasn’t
fair and I hope you understand I feel really bad. Honest to God, I feel
awful.”
“It’s alright,” I muttered, glad at least that he did apologize.
“Besides, if it hadn’t had been for you, I’ll have never left the care-
homes and found Kit. You saved me, I suppose.”
“Heh, so I guess you should be thanking me.”
I shot him a very dark look.
“Whoa, only joking man, geez!”
I shook away the glare and carried on plotting. If we could find
Benny then maybe we could get him to tell us what was wrong and
why he was trying to kill us. It was still not making sense to me. After
all we’d been through together; he was trying to kill me. I just couldn’t
process the idea.
“Right, I think I know what we need to do,” I declared, inviting
Danny up into my flat.
“Are you sure it’s safe in here? I mean, what if he sneaks up on
us and tries to kill you?”
“Don’t worry, with my vampire hearing, I can usually hear him
coming before he gets anywhere near the restaurant – just so long as
we keep our voices down.”
“Right,” he whispered, looking oddly like an excited schoolboy. I
wondered exactly what I would have done with my life if I had lived a
normal childhood. Would I have been happy with my parents? I
probably would have been, but no matter, the past was of no concern
to me. Right now, we needed to sort Benny out.
I explained my idea to him. We were going to wait for him to be
alone in his office and when he was definitely alone, we’d ambush him,
taking him by surprise. So long as he just told us what he was doing, it
would be easy and we’d have no problem. I mean, I’d rather not hurt
him because even if he was trying to kill me now, he’d done nothing
but help for the last few years. I owed a lot to him.
If he complied, we’d be able to leave him. I’d breathe my
knockout gas on him and we’d be off. We could flee and try to escape
from the actual hunters – whoever it was that was trying to kill us.
Maybe I’d get a drink from him too. Yeah, I needed it quite badly. And
then, only then, I would blood Danny, ensuring he knew that he could
never go back to his humanity, even if he wanted it.
 Once I had finished explaining, I told him that I was going to have
a shower and if he heard Benny come in, to tell me and prepare for our
plan. I stripped down, went to the toilet, and then let the hot water
wash the stench of fire and disinfectant from my skin. Luckily, there
was Benny didn’t appear whilst I was washing so I had a good long,
undisturbed wash. I also finally got to shave off all of the hair without it
growing back instantly. I was still a little stubbly, but I could live with
that. It felt so odd being so suddenly grown up. Once out of the
shower, I examined myself fully. My body felt really alien to me. Even
my face looked a little different, the features more built and solid
looking. My shoulders were broader and I had hair growing in various
places where it definitely hadn’t been before. I guess this is how most
teens felt everyday during puberty.
I towelled myself dry and pulled on a fresh pair of t-shirt and
jeans. I bit my nails, making them a little shorter and gave my scraggy
hair a quick comb through. I glanced at the clock – it was six in the
morning. Benny wasn’t going to be here now! But, I felt tonnes better
and when I walked outside of the bathroom it caught me by surprise to
find that Danny wasn’t there. My heart instantly began to race. I’d told
him to stay and he almost seemed to worship me. He’d listen. So he
must have been kidnapped.
I heard a quiet rustle in the corner of the room. I span around
and felt a fist drive itself hard into my face. I jumped up swiftly to see a
tall cloaked figure racing towards me with vampiric speed. I was alert
to say the least. Rolling out of his way, I tried to grab something I could
use as a weapon. There was nothing. I got to my feet and lunged at my
attacker. I swung a few wild punches but they were all dodged easily.
This guy was obviously a bit of a combat pro.
Another punch connected with my face and I staggered off, blood
beginning to pour from my nose. I howled with agony and threw myself
blindly at my foe.
“I’m sorry Yusuf, my friend; you’ll have to do better than that.”
Naturally, a comment like that just angered me all the more. In
one desperate last attempt at inflicting some sort of injury on his, I
grabbed onto his cloak, pulled backwards and clawed his face with my
freshly cut nails. They were jagged and sharp, so four large cuts spread
along his cheeks and nose. He screamed and shoved me into the wall
of the room. My neck jerked back violently and my head banged
against the wall.
Dizzy and disoriented, I made for the door. I fled down the stairs
and into the street. I slammed the door behind me, my energy supplies
depleting all the time. The road began to swim before my eyes, that
vile bitter, bile-like taste forming in my mouth. I threw myself at
someone’s door and collapsed in a weakened heap. Blood still poured
from my bust nose and my head was throbbing, the pain worse than
anything I had ever experienced before. I closed my eyes and
blackness fell…

Interlude

Cold revenge. That was my only real option. Angry, hate filled
thoughts filled my aching head. Death, pain and a lot of destruction
were tainting my mind. Deep frowns set on my eye brows. I was
engulfed by a permanent darkness. All around me there was grief and
slaughter. I could see pictures of children being murdered, bombs
destroying entire cities, a man being tortured; they were all so clear in
my eyes.
Howling, screaming, shouting for them to stop, I still found
myself surrounded by it. Death in the worst forms. I clenched my fists
and dug my sharp, tough nails into my palms. The pain made me feel a
little better, but really, I was wrathful. I couldn’t help it. I was projecting
faces now. The tortured man was Benny, the pair of fearful, deadened
eyes wee his, no longer those of a stranger. The bomb was going off in
my mind, destroying all of the good, leaving behind only carnage and
death.
I lashed out, swinging my arms madly from side to side,
gnashing my teeth madly like a rabid dog of some sort. I howled
repeatedly, feeling more and more like the beast I felt myself
becoming.
In the corner of my demonic mind, my conscious cowered,
feeling small and useless. Even it was no longer having any effect on
me. Together with Kit and Danny, nothing could pull me from this
angry stupor. I was trapped, stranded, lost in an endless spiral of
despair and gloom. Then, I saw it. The only thing which may possibly
have helped me – a memory of my mother.
She lay on that hospital bed looking so thin and fragile. Yet her
body still radiated the utmost beauty. Albeit a little pale, her skin was
perfect and smooth; her eyes sparkled with an awesome life and
vigour and her voice, well, her voice was like that of an angel. She said
only three words that day. As the sparkle and shine in her eyes began
to fade, she turned to me.
“I…love…you…”
She was playing on repeat in my head. It was like a film that was
stuck on repeat. All that I could see was the sad, ever emptying gaze
in her eyes as she died, the grip of her right hand on mine gradually
fading. Tears streaked my face. The anger melted away to grief. I
didn’t want to kill out of nothing. What would my dead Mother think?
Any fighting would be fair and only enough to save myself.
 Suddenly, my thoughts brightened. A stunning white light shone
before my eyes. I gradually let my eyelids flicker open and I was back
in the real world once more…

Chapter 6 – Dehumanize

“…Fella? Are you alright? Come on fella, you can make it. Just
hang on mate, don’t conk out on me now, lad!”
“Ugh, my head,” I groaned, sitting upon my elbows. Looking at
me was the concerned face of an old-ish man, about sixty-something.
His greying hair was thinning out on his head and he had a deep,
concerned wrinkle cut deep into his forehead. I brought hands up to my
face to rub my eyes, but they were bandaged tightly. I shuddered,
recalling the pains of digging my nails deep into my skin. All of that
hate; was that inside of me? Was that my future?
“Just take it easy. You’ve been pretty badly knocked about. When
I found you, you looked safe enough but as soon as I brought you
inside, you’ve been jack-knifing like no man’s business. Now then lad,
tell me what happened. Youngsters like you ought not to be on the
streets like that. What, did you run away, lad?”
“N-no I, uh, didn’t run away,” I stuttered, feeling even weaker. “I
just, uh, I, uh, I’m sorry. I really can’t tell you.”
“No need,” he smiled warmly. “All you need to do is tell me where
you live and I’ll take you back.”
“No!” I exclaimed, a little too loud. “Sorry, it’s just that, I can’t go
back there. That’s where I got most of my injuries. I need to stay away
for a while.”
“Ah, that explains it. But what, lad, were you doing at my door?
You practically threw yourself through it. I had to pay a fair bit to get it
fixed.”
“Oh, sorry,” I muttered embarrassed. “I just needed someone to
know I had been attacked.”
“I know that you’ve been attacked,” he said softly.
My eyes widened with horror. Was this my attacker?
“It wasn’t you that attacked me was it?”
“Good heavens no!” he exclaimed heartily, clapping me on the
back [I winced]. “You see, I’ve been watching you for quite some time.”
Good God, I must be something of a celebrity. First, an old enemy
has been stalking me, only to turn into a friend. Now, an old man has
been watching me. Who next? The Queen?
“Well, I’ve always wanted to know how you did it. How you’ve
lifted those massive weights, run so fast, looked so young at twenty-
something and how you survived such a bad stab wound.
 “So, I’ve been watching you from a distance and I happen to
know that whilst you were in the shower [ugh, creepy; he actually
knew I was in the shower], you’re house was broken into, Danny
Nichols forcibly removed and you yourself later ambushed. Isn’t that
right laddo?”
I stared, actually no; I gawped at him in sheer disbelief and
amazement.
“Do you know why I can do all of that stuff though? Do you know
the reason?”
“Well…no,” he replied, looking a little ashamed.
“That’s alright, and how’s about a deal. I’ll write down my secrets
on a piece of paper which you can open on the day I leave.”
“No. You don’t leave this room until you tell me.”
I remained where I was and gave it a lot of thought. Could I really
risk telling yet another human that I was a vampire? I was taking more
risks than I needed to.
Suddenly, an idea struck me.
“OK, but I have to whisper it to you. If you could see and tell
what I was doing, I guess that my attackers can too.”
“Good, safe thinking there laddie! Well, come on then.”
I stood up and walked over to him. I bent over and brought my
lips to his ears as though to whisper something. I did.
“I’m so sorry. Thanks for everything though.”
I gripped his head between my hands and breathed out on his
face. I just hoped that my knock-out breath had developed. I continued
to exhale on him, and I felt his struggling slow a little. Soon, I felt him
go limp in my hands. I lowered him gently to the floor and left his
house, hoping that in the future, I’d come across less crazy people.

---

Slightly invigorated by the fact that I could breathe knock-out

gas and desperate to find out where Danny had gone, I ran down the
street. I had so much energy. I just kept on getting faster and faster.
Suddenly, I hit an incredible speed and just seemed to accelerate
fantastically. I was flitting! Another rush of glee made its way up to my
head. Now, I felt as though I was sure to find Danny.
But, I needed somewhere that I could be safe in. There was
nowhere. At Benny’s as I was real danger, in open parks and
countryside I was vulnerable to being stabbed and I had nowhere else.
I was homeless. My energy was draining again and my head began to
throb. I guessed I should have been taking it easy, since I had only just
recovered from various ailments.
I slowed my speed and stopped again. I found myself on the cusp
of some woodland. Nostalgic waves washed over me as I realized that
this was the small forest where I first met Kit. This was where my
vampirism had begun and my human life had begun to die. Now, it was
totally dead.
I glanced up at the night-sky and wondered – how long would it
be before the night-sky ever felt as good as a sunny day? Would it ever
compare? Since I was trapped forever at the night-time, I would have
to rely on my childhood memories to remember what it was like to
enjoy relaxing in the Sun. Not that during my youth I ever had time to
relax.
My reminiscing was quickly cut off when I heard a small
crunching to my left. I span around. I could see nothing. Remaining
entirely still, I trained my ears for sound. Other than a few birds and
insects, I heard no sounds. I trod on carefully, ensuring that I crunched
on no twigs, ever listening for signs of danger.
Even after about ten minutes, there was no sound. I was
beginning to believe that I had just imagined it when I saw a human
shape shadow cast across the path. It wasn’t mine. I turned towards its
source and saw a tall figure, dressed in black.
“Not again,” I groaned under my breath. “Look, can’t we just
settle this by talking? At least tell me why you’re trying to kill me. And
where’s my friend, Danny?”
“Come now, young Yusuf. What makes you think that I’m a
reasonable person?”
I sensed certain smugness in his voice. He was merely toying
with me.
“I can just feel it,” I replied, trying to sound as collected as he
did.
“Well, you feel wrong,” he spat before flying at me, a small knife
in his hands. This time, I was getting a bit used to the whole knife
routine. I grabbed his right wrist and twisted him over rapidly,
preventing him from doing any harm. He swung his legs from the floor
and smashed me in the shins, my feeble jump a little late. I howled and
jerked his wrist from side to side, filling the air with grotesque snapping
sounds.
“ARGH!” he yelled, flinging himself at me once more after having
broken from my grip. “You will die Dolmoyan. Vampire’s never do what
you do. You’re nothing but filth. Anyone would think you were a
goddamn human.”
For a brief moment I was stunned. What did he mean? Did other
vampires have such a low opinion of humans? But, my fighting instinct
took over once more and I continued to launch attack after attack on
my opponent. He was definitely weaker, falling victim to my blows
more and more.
Eventually, he stopped hitting back. I stared at him as he
slumped to the floor. The knife glinted menacingly on the ground. He
was at my mercy, as good as dead. Now was my chance to finish him.
 “Go on,” he spat, still angry in defeat. “Scum like you is always
up for an easy kill.”
“What do you mean scum like me? I don’t know what the hell I’ve
done. Have I ever even met you?”
“Until I stabbed you in the country park, I’m glad…” he trailed off
and coughed a little. Blood dribbled down his pale cheeks from a small
cut and began to seep from his mouth. “I’m glad,” he continued, “to
say I’d never have to come near you. I wouldn’t ever want to make
acquaintances with filth and dirt.”
That did it. I was not going to be scared by a dead man. I
grabbed the knife from the floor. It felt so alien in my hands. Taking
that final lunging step into darkness, I delivered my blow.
A deathly groan escaped his lips and more blood poured from his
mouth. As I stared, horrified at what I’d done, a small smile played at
the corners of his lips.
“You are well out of your depth, Master Dolmoyan. Hopefully
now, no-one will want to be the associate of a murderer. But ho, not
just a murderer…”
He coughed violently, blood splattering over my clothes. He
shuddered but looked me directly in the eyes, his cold penetrating
stare softening, a look of sheer pity for me now in its place.
“You’re not just a murderer. You’re dirt.”
With that, he fell flat and his head rolled to the side with that
awful limpness of death. Motionless, I remained staring at him wishing
for him to just get back up and resume his assault. But no, I had killed
a defenceless victim. He was right; I was scum. Murderous scum.
Fear and anger rose in me. But it wasn’t my fault, I whined in my
head. He attacked me. I only killed him in self defence.
But he was lying injured on the ground.
I screamed. My own conscience was going to haunt me forever.
And I was going to live for an extremely long time. Unless…

---

Torrents of windy rain whipped my face. Salty vapour stung my

eyes. My clothes were sodden and torn. This was going to me the end.
Not in a million years did I ever think that I would kill someone in cold
blood. Hatred and fear were the only two emotions I felt for myself. I
was a monster.
This was my end. I removed the remains of my shirt, wishing too
feel the cold, the bitterness and the hatred of the storm against my
hardened flesh. The hatred in me was slowly fading to sadness and
grief. Had my twenty years of life been for nothing? Was I destined to
go and die, throwing myself from a cliff.
My bare feet wiggled over the edge of the rocky cliff. All it would
take it one jump and I’d land in the water. If that didn’t kill me, surely
the water would. Such a stormy sea was bound to drown me. The Sun
was beginning to rise, that familiar scene that was poison to me. How
could it shine through, even when it was so stormy?
It would take something truly fantastic to be able to do that, to
shine through such a dense, viscous barrage of cloud and rain. If only I
could do that and… That was it! If I saved Danny, maybe I’d be able to
forgive myself. I wouldn’t feel so vile. Suicide, how stupid. Only an idiot
would waste something as precious as their only life. No true vampire
would give up so easily.
I took a confident step forwards and was about to retreat from
the hill. My mind was clearer now, my thoughts were my own. But
when the floor slipped from beneath my feet, I was dead for sure…

---
I scrabbled desperately at the edge of the cliff and my right hand
caught onto a piece of rock. Icy cold, malicious drops of rain tore at my
fingers. But I had to hold on. This was my chance. How would death
receive a murderer? I would be punished for all eternity. I dug
frantically at the ground around the rock and swung up my left arm, in
a desperate attempt to climb back up.
Plastered against my scalp, my long black hair was beginning to
irritate me. It was that all too familiar itch that is just asking to be
scratched but is always just out of reach. Agonizingly, I hung onto the
ground now with both hands and tried to pull myself up. The wind was
howling in my eardrums, but surely it would be worse on the fall. I just
had to keep going, the thought of falling always spurring me on.
Finally, I felt confident to swing my body up. I hooked my leg
onto the side and tried to pull up. But, my body wasn’t that malleable.
My arms slipped from beneath me, hands grabbing frantically at
whatever was available. A blade of grass. My fingers clenched tightly
around it as I launched off the cliff face.
I plummeted from the cliff in a way that was oddly calm. The
wind rushing past my ears didn’t create the deafening sound I had
feared but instead, it blocked the other sounds. I tried to throw myself
at the cliff mid-fall, but it was no use. I was falling to fast.
The rain still wore away at my skin, making me frustrated. That
was until I hit the water. Feet first, I plunged deep into the salty depths,
the cold water making me freeze. My mind was desperately trying to
whirr into action, but something was stopping it in that sinister way.
Finally, it seemed I was succumbing to death. I couldn’t die now, I
screamed inside my head.
Finally, my descent ended and I began to move, swimming
frantically upwards. My right fist was clenched and I couldn’t relax it,
so I relied heavily on the splayed fingers of my left hand. To make
matters worse, I never learned to swim. Why was life so treacherous?
 Finally, gasping for breath, I broke the surface of the choppy
waters and began to swim back to land. The current was flowing
brutally against me, my eyes and throat were stinging from the water
and I was absolutely freezing cold, but the sheer adrenaline of the
moment was driving me, forcing me to continue.
My arms swung madly at the water, as if trying to swing a bat at
a ball. I was travelling slowly, but was making it back. A sharp pain
began to spread across my ribs and my breaths began to get shorter. A
stitch was really not what I wanted at a time like this. But, the searing
pain was waking me a little, tuning my senses and giving me that little
boost of energy and frustrated drive.
A particularly large, malicious wave forced me backwards a few
metres, seemingly undoing at least five minutes of hard swimming.
Even a vampire began to tire after a while. But still, I ploughed on
through the water, desperate now to reach the shore. It was within
reach, I could see the pier and the walls. Only about one hundred
metres now.
That was when my skin began to burn.
The Sun was really off my Christmas card list now. It could have
waited at least until I had gotten ashore. Now I was burning, tired and
angry. Great, what an awesome combo. Just what I needed. I dived
down beneath the water and began to kick furiously, desperate to
come up again as quickly as I could. My eyes felt as though they were
bleeding from all of the water, but I continued nonetheless, now quite
definitely getting ashore.
A few minutes later, my hand clamped onto the edge of a sea
wall. Another quickly followed and within moments, I was lying on the
ground, coughing up seawater and generally feeling better and quite
lucky to be alive. Fate had given me a hand, I supposed. But now, I
needed to get out of the Sun and get somewhere warm. At this rate I
was going to die of burning whilst on setting hypothermia. I unclenched
my right fists and a single solitary blade of grass fell from it, drifting in
the wing. I felt the corners of my mouth begin to curl into a feeble grin.
I decided that since my assassin was dead, I could probably g
back to Benny’s for a short time to get back some of my things. I
definitely was going to need the clothes. I needed to cover from the
Sun and the cold. So, I set about running, flitting slightly, back to
Benny’s.
Several exhausted minutes later, I was there, only to realize that
my key had been in my jacket. My jacket was long gone. I tilted back
my head and howled angrily. Rammed my toe nails and finger nails
into the wall and began to climb, carefully testing my hold each time.
Since it was the early morning, I couldn’t help but wonder if Benny was
going to arrive soon to help set up things in the restaurant. If he did,
I’d finally be able to get a word in with him.
 Eventually, my exhausted body had made its way over to the
window. I cut a hole in the glass with my left hand and twisted open
the frame from the inside. I clambered through and sat on my messy
bed. Only a week ago I had been amazed by the hospitality. Now, it felt
more like a cell.
Pulling open the wardrobe just infuriated me further. These were
all clothes from the pre-adult era. None of them would fit me now! So,
I’d have to go on naked from the chest up, wearing dirty, torn trousers
and a pair of trainers that were at least five sizes too small. Accepting
that things weren’t going to get any better soon, I sat on the bed and
waited for Benny to arrive.

Chapter 7 – One Last Shot

Benny walked in at half seven that morning. He parked his shiny

silver Audi around the back of the building and then made his way
over to the back door. From the pockets of his new Armani suit he
removed a small bronze key. He turned it in the door and let himself in.
He entered his office and looked up at the picture of Yusuf, Kit and
himself, smiling after their fame was being spread.
There was a quiet knock at his office door. It was so faint and so
early in the morning that he just assumed that it was his imagination
with the help of a lack of sleep – his mind had been playing awful tricks
on him after the Yusuf incident. He began shuffling through papers on
his table, but he couldn’t help guiltily glancing up at the photograph of
young Yusuf on the wall. He had never been anything but a help to
Benny – he was attracting customers even in his absence. But this
time, he was gone forever. Benny had, in fear of his own life, sold him
out to be killed.
Suddenly, the knock got much sharper, followed by a slightly
surprised grunt from the outside of the door.
“Come in,” he called, assuming that it was one of his waiters,
once more coming to ask for a raise. So far, that was the only business
done in his office, giving raises.
The door opened slowly. A man who looked about twenty years
old stepped across the threshold and continued looking down at the
floor. Benny heart began to race. How’d this guy gotten in? He was a
tramp. Wearing only torn trousers, with messy hair and a few bruises
on his torso, the man certainly looked like a vagrant.
“Benny,” the man whispered.
Benny still didn’t quite know who this was.
“I almost died because of you,” the visitor croaked.
“Yusuf,” he croaked, fearful in realization. “Uh…thank God you
are not, uh, dead. I was so worried.”
 “Sure,” Yusuf spat, still staring at the ground. “Only cowards give
up their own friends to killers. Do you know how disgusting I felt?
Killing that man after he tried to kill me, it seemed so right, but now I
feel like a villain. Benny, I’m not a villain. I can’t live like that. I’m a
good person and you know it.”
Benny stared in horror at the man standing before him. This
wasn’t right. They said he’d be dead and he’d not have to worry.
“Now Benny, maybe my second kill won’t be so hard.”
The words took a few seconds to sink in but when they did,
Benny found himself paralyzed with fear. Yusuf lunged at him, and
pinned him down to the table. He bore his fangs menacingly and
lunged at Benny’s throat. Fear caused him to flinch and in that second,
Yusuf began to exhale on his face. He continued for a few seconds and
then stepped away, allowing Benny some room. Benny jumped up,
then he began to feel sleepy. Within seconds, he was out, snoring
lightly on the table.
Yusuf looked over him contentedly and then set about his plan…

---

My first call of port was blood. I needed it badly after that

episode with the sea and the cliffs and I hadn’t actually drunk for quite
I while. As a full vampire, I certainly had to learn to get into a regular
weekly habit. I bared his right arm and made a small cut with the cut of
my forefinger. I brought the bleeding wound to my lips and drank
enough. Then, I licked the wound and rubbed my saliva into it.
At first it didn’t look too promising, but after a minute or so, it
began to heal. I beamed at the wound and then looked for something
to tie Benny up with. As I expected, he didn’t have a supply of rope n
his office, but he was wearing a tie. So, I sat him upright on his chair
and bound his hands around the back of his chair. I tied several very
tight knots in the tie, hoping that it would be enough to hold him for a
few minutes. I wasn’t seriously going to do him any harm, but if he
thought I was, maybe he’d answer my questions quickly and honestly.
“Ugh, what happened?” he slurred, waking up from the gas a few
minutes later. “Why can’t I move me hands?”
“It’s OK Benny, my friend; I just want you to ask some
questions.”
“Yusuf, where are you?”
“That’s not important,” I replied. If he couldn’t see me, again he
might be a little more scared. “I’m going to ask you some questions
and I want you to answer them. Deal?”
“No way, I’m not answering you anything. I’ve been nothing but
a friend to you and your type. I do not deserve this type of treatment.”
“You deserve it completely you traitor. You arranged for my death
–why?”
 “What? I did nothing of the sort.”
His reply was weak and sounded hollow. I dropped a small coin
on his head from my hiding place. He jerked his neck upright but from
the angle he was sat at, he couldn’t quite see me.
“Stop lying. I have sources that said you were in a local park
giving away details of my whereabouts to at least one other vampire.
Why?”
“I didn’t so anything,” he denied, getting a little quieter each
time.
I threw another penny and he tried to bring his hands to his
head, with no luck.
“Alright, alright,” he snapped, in a bit of pain. “But you must hear
me out. The story is quite long.”
“That’s OK,” I assured him. “I have plenty of time.”
“Well, it began on the day of your performance. After all of my
customers left, two men entered the restaurant. I tell them we are
closed. They say, no, they are here just to speak to me. They said that
they had my family bound up and gagged. They would kill them if I
didn’t listen. I went for the phone to call the police, but they said that
they would kill me. So, I listened to them.
“They said that you were wanted amongst the vampires for
avoiding the cause and not going off to fight in some war. They had
seen the act from outside and wanted to see you and kill you. They
wanted me to tell them things. But they wanted me to tell them away
from the restaurant. I said that I’d meet them on a day when you were
away from home.
“They agreed. They told me to meet them at the park, just off
the estate. So, I agreed and they vanished. Just like that. They were
gone. Suddenly, it occurred to me. How was I supposed to meet them if
they didn’t know what time I’d be there? I thought I wouldn’t go. But
then, I feared for my family. So, when you went out one night when I
was working late, I went out to the park.
“As soon as I arrived, they were there. It was so strange because
I hadn’t told them anything. So, I told them about you and where you
were staying. They made me tell them everything and told me tell you
if you went anywhere. They gave me a contact number and told me to
leave messages. They visited me every day to check that I was
complying. I’m so sorry Yusuf, but I was so scared you know. They said
you were filth and scum and should die for helping humans. I was so
scared. I almost believed them.
“So, in the end, this is what happened. You were dead as far as I
knew. I mourned for you. I promise that I didn’t want you dead. Really
Yusuf you are my friend. I’d never try to kill you.”
For a long moment I stared at him from my place on the ceiling.
The blood was starting to affect my head so I dropped down beside
him and looked him in the eyes.
 “Is that true?”
“Yes,” he whispered, too ashamed to hold my gaze. His head
slumped back down and he remained looking defeated and upset.
“Who were they?”
“They were two vampires. One was called, or at least as far as I
knew, Lye, and the other was called … he was ….Marco.”
“OK, did they tell you where to find them?”
“No, they just said come to the park and we’ll always be there.
I’ve been three times without telling them and they were always
there.”
“Would you like to help me then, Benny?”
“How?” he queried, looking slightly worried.
“Go down to the park again. Tell them that I’ll be at the flat again
tomorrow all day. But really, I’ll be with you and I’ll ambush them.”
“I’m not too sure, Yusuf. What if they kill you?”
“You weren’t too bothered before,” I snapped, a little too harshly.
Benny looked down ashamed and I felt guilty. “Sorry Benny. Think
about it though: if I don’t take this opportunity now, they’ll probably kill
me anyway. I killed one of them, you know, in the forest just off behind
the library. He was attacking me with a knife and I ended up killing
him. They have Danny. I need to save him or I don’t think I’ll ever quite
save myself.”
“OK, OK, drama king, I’ll help you. But only if you promise that
afterwards, no harm will come to me or my family.”
“I can’t promise that Benny, you know quite well that I can’t. But
if it helps, I will leave this town, with my Apprentice, and hopefully find
a better life somewhere else.”
“But, I need you here. You saved my restaurant with your act.
People started to come again when we advertised you.”
“Sorry Benny, but not if it puts innocent people like you in
danger.”
He looked saddened by my words, but his eyes seemed to reflect
that he knew what I meant and he understood my decision.
“OK, but it will tear a hole in my…” he trailed off, a small smile
playing at the corner of his lips.
“What will I tear a hole in?” I asked, eager for him to finish his
sentence.
“It will tear a hole…in my wallet!”
“Benny!” I groaned, expecting to at least be a little soppier about
it.
“Sorry, but it’s true. I will miss your little tricks on stage. They
always make me feel so good, you know? They make me feel really
alive. I doubt that I can get that from anyone else.”
“I’ll still visit. You’ll get the occasional performance. I think I’d
miss the performing too. It’s all that I know.”
 “So, do you want to untie me? We’ll go at the end of the day –
after I get you some proper clothes.”
“Whoops, I kinda forgot about tying you! Sorry that I had to do it
so tightly.”
“It’s OK, my friend,” he grinned, flexing his wrists, rubbing them
with the palms of his hands. “Tonight at eleven I go down. You come
with me and it should be OK.”
“Right,” I confirmed, turning to leave his office. Benny followed
me out and went into the kitchens. I lingered uncomfortably in the
corridor. A few moments later Benny returned.
“What are you waiting for? You can go back upstairs.”
“Really? Awh thanks Benny,” I grinned, glad to be able to go
upstairs. I needed that shower.
“And take my jumped at least. I’m not having you go around
dressed inappropriately.”
I blushed but gratefully accepted the jacket from him. Thanking
him, I began to jog up the stairs, breaking into a sprint when I reached
the top. Then, I remembered that I had no key. I ran back downstairs
and stood at Benny’s office. The door was open a fraction and I heard
Benny talking. Careful not to make myself known, I remained outside
the door and eavesdropped on his conversation.

“…yes, he is here…no…are you sure… I’m not so sure… OK, OK

… a new car it is… see you at eleven then… bye…”
Numb, I stood flat against the wall. I heard Benny approaching
the door and fled up the corridor. With my vampiric speed, he’d not
have seen me. I made out as though I was just coming now, by walking
slowly towards his office.
“Ah, Yusuf, you have a problem?”
“Oh, uh, yeah, I haven’t got a key for upstairs.”
“Of course not, come into my office. I get you mine.”
Cautiously, I followed him into his office. There, he reached into
his top drawer and pulled out a small key. He handed it to me with a
large grin. Yeah, large car grin, I thought sourly, a dark look on my
face.
“Hey Yusuf, what’s with the sad look?”
“Oh, err; I’m just…a bit tired, yeah, tired, that’s all.”
“OK, well, make sure you’re up for it at eleven.”
“I will,” I muttered, faking a sleepy yawn. With that, I walked up
the stairs and let myself back into my flat. I sat on the bed again and
tried to relax for a moment. Nothing. Instead, I got up and showered –
pants and all. The hot water rinsed the caked in mud from my body
and did a reasonable job of cleaning up the trousers. I removed them
and finished my shower properly, after wringing them out and leaving
them to dry on the radiator.
 A quick toilet break later, I dried off I lay under the covers of my
bed and relaxed, feeling perkier and a lot warmer. The TV was
humming away in the corner, about Type C blood, no less, but I wasn’t
too interested. I was just worn out. My eyelids gradually began to
droop and I drifted to sleep for what felt like the first time in ages…

---

Darkness was all I dreamt. I was in a dark room, probably a

room, I couldn’t tell, as it was too dark, and there was nothing around
me. If I moved, I just ended up in more darkness. I flitted straight
ahead, but still it carried on and on until I tired. It was truly endless.
Without warning, I heard a loud creak. I felt whatever ever it was that I
was stood on begin to crack and before I had a chance to get away, it
collapsed, catapulting me into the darkness.
I was falling.
I kept on F
A
L
L
I
N
G.
Around me, there was nothing, still. Soon, the gut wrenching
feeling on falling began to fade. The odd thing that I noticed was that
there was no rushing past my ears, like when I had fallen from the cliff.
This was totally serene. If I tilted my body in any direction, I began to
fall that well. I guessed this was how interpreted flying to feel like, only
I was travelling downwards instead of upwards.
Directly beneath me, I saw something white and plain. I was
plummeting towards it at tremendous speed. Soon, it was much bigger
and it was a word. ‘Betrayal’. Yeah, that’s about right, I thought. I’ve
been betrayed by someone that I thought was a good friend.
I kept falling towards that word and then as I approached it, I felt
that knot of fear tie itself in my gut. I was going to crash into it and it
looked painful – really, really painful. I was falling fast and that word
looked pretty solid and menacing. Soon, I could almost see landing on
it. My arms stuck out and…
…I fell right through it. Yup, not a single mark of any kind was on
me. I just raced through it. I twisted backwards and looked upwards at
the word. It now said something different. It said ‘Overcome’. I guess
that was what I had to do. Overcome my betrayal. I needed to come up
with a way to get back at Benny – again.
As I span back around I felt my eyes squeeze shut and I landed
on something soft and fluffy. Bed.
---
 I lifted my head up from the blanket and looked about me. It was
nearing night-time. This was just the right time. I peeked timidly out of
the window and observed that the Sun almost setting and darkness
was beginning to fall. The TV was still going, but this time, a children’s
TV show was on. I watched it, remembering the days when I ought to
have been watching things like this, and then got up and got dressed. I
gathered up anything of any use from room – money, CDs, CD player,
bag – and climbed out of my window. I needed to leave these
somewhere safe, so hopefully I could return and get them once
everything was over.
Despite everything bad that had happened there, I decided that
Kit’s old forest was probably quite good to hide things in. I climbed a
reasonably tall tree and hid them in between and particularly thick
clump of branches. Hopefully, after tonight, it’d all still be there.
I quickly returned to Benny’s and climbed back up the building
into my room. I was careful enough not to make much noise; alerting
Benny may not have been much of a good idea. Once back in my
room, I planned my revenge on Benny and my attackers, in such a way
that Benny still wouldn’t face too much harm. To slaughter a weak,
rather pitiful person, like himself, would be wrong, by any stretch of the
imagination. But the person who was planning the attacks, he had to
die. He had sent me to death on several occasions. Now, surely it was
his turn?

---

There was a knock at my door at about ten o’clock. A small piece

of paper was pushed under. Intrigued, I picked up and examined it.
“Don’t try anything stupid tonight. Otherwise, Danny is dead.”
Ha, I chortled in my head. I think Danny would be quick dead if I
didn’t try anything. I pulled open the door and checked for anyone.
Nope. Not a soul in sight. That was obvious really; they weren’t going
to hang around if they had me walking into them later on. But it was
still, I supposed, worth a look.
I examined the other side of the paper. There was nothing. There
didn’t seem to be anything hidden, so obviously this assassin was just
resorting to old fashioned blackmail. To me, that was a sign of fear.
Whoever they were, they were getting a bit scared. I felt a new lease of
confidence and prepared myself for the meeting.
Soon, the hour was upon me and I set off, this time from the
back door, with Benny. We walked in silence, neither of us really
comfortable enough in the other’s presence to start conversation. I
wondered what he was thinking and how he felt, betraying me in the
way that he was.
 Finally, we reached the park. I hid by a small wall, waiting for this
mystical person to arrive. A cool breeze blew melancholy notes in the
trees and the odd pile of leaves rustled about, causing me to look
about, quite nervously. Benny just stood in silence, staring at the
ground, hands in his pockets. How could he be so calm?
That’s when I heard footsteps to my left. I span around and
noticed that it was no-one but a small, old man walking his dog. He
was dressed quite peculiarly, in a large anorak and a pair of
Wellingtons. He reached into the coat and pulled out a small heart
shaped object. He examined it, grunted and walked off. I exhaled
deeply – something about the small old man unnerved me but I felt
much better now. Turning again to look at Benny, I felt my insides
clench. He was gone.

Chapter 8 – Action

I combed the park frantically with my eyes, hoping desperately

that Benny had just moved a little. But he was no where to be found. I
crept silently from the wall and looked about the park. There was no
sign of him anyway. I cursed under my breath and went back to the
wall.
“Stop right there, filth,” a cold voce, spat from behind me. I
began to turn around but I felt something cold pressed against my
neck. “I mean it. Don’t move a muscle or this knife will be the last
thing you feel, get me?”
“Only cowards attack their victims with their backs turned,” I
whispered before shoving back my elbow and grabbing for the hand
with the knife. My elbow struck home, but I didn’t catch his hand.
Whirling around I saw my attacker was a youngish looking man
wearing dark camouflage and brandishing a machete.
“Only filthy, scummy vampires work with weak humans.”
“Yeah?” I challenged. “Well, what are you doing? I think you’ve
been working quite closely with Benny.”
“Insolent pig, I threatened him and now, he lies, tied and beaten
in the park,” he roared, lunging at me again.
I tried to dodge, but his swipe caught the jumper that Benny had
leant me and gashed my side. Blood began to trickle from it and soak
into the fabric. I yelled out and dived at him, trying to disarm him. He
dodged me skilfully and I flew on through, almost falling. He took
advantage of my momentum and shoved me forward, causing me to
land in a pathetic heap on the floor.
“It’s over, stupid mutt,” he whispered down my ear, pinning me
down. I couldn’t move and he was brandishing the knife menacingly
before me. “My Father was wrong to let you back into his restaurant.”
 Suddenly, time slowed and I felt my mind whirr into action. OK,
that made a lot of sense. But I thought that Benny only had a young
son. But then again, if he was a murderous vampire, it’s not a wonder
that I never heard of him.
He began to bring the knife down towards my neck when I felt
the weight lift from me. The vampire had been tackled by someone
and was wrestling with them to gain control of the knife. He won,
easily, and triumphantly drove the knife into the man, without looking
at who it was. It was Benny.
I heard a small whimper escape from both of their mouths,
almost together, but I didn’t dwell. This was my chance. I ran over and
punched the vampire hard in the head. He grunted and collapsed to
the ground. I examined Benny and found a large gash in his side. Blood
was pouring from it – delicious blood which I needed to drink.
“Go ahead,” he whispered, unable to actually speak. “Drink me
up. I’m as good as dead now. My son always told me that you people
considered it kind to drink from someone who was dying. Something
about saving their memories…”
He trailed off and coughed violently, before shivering and looking
up at the sky.
“You know, I never did quite tell you about my son. I thought he
was dead, until Kit died. Then, he came and found me. He told me all
about vampirism, filled in the blanks that Kit left. But when you
resurfaced, he became cold and stony and wanted you dead. He
threatened me, if I didn’t tell him where you were. Can you imagine
how I felt? My own son was going to kill me.
“I told him everything, but with a … heavy conscience. But now,
it doesn’t matter. Drink, go on, don’t leave me to suffer…”
He trailed off and winced in pain. I felt guilty that I was so hungry
for his blood, but I knew that it was for his own good. I grabbed his leg
and made a cut at one of the veins, drawing large amounts of blood as
I sucked. I felt tears rush to my eyes as he faded and I began to feel a
bit criminal. But when he died, right there and then, there was a small
smile on his lips. It faded, but whilst it was there, I knew that I had
done the right thing.
I knew too that Benny had done what was best. He hadn’t
wanted to kill me, only to protect his family. I’m sure that I would have
done the same. It was a shame to see such a good person die. I heard
his son begin to groan and regain consciousness. I hit him again,
causing his head to loll, and picked him up. I carried him back to the
restaurant and tied him on the chair, keeping strong hold of his
machete.
When he awoke, it’d be time for interrogation.

---
 “Hnuh,” he moaned as he woke, trying to bring his hand to his
forehead.
“Hi there,” I chortled, smiling coldly. “Shame your alive isn’t it
and this time, I have the knife.”
“Urgh, filth like you should only ever be on the end of weapons.”
“Whatever,” I snapped. “Look, I just want you to tell me where
you’ve got Danny. I’ll let you go, no harm done, just so long as you let
me set my friend free.”
“I’ll tell you nothing.”
I sighed.
“Just get over your stupidity,” I scalded him. “Or at least explain
why the hell you want to kill me. I know I mix with humans, but why is
that such a bad thing.”
“Because we creatures of the night don’t mix with daytime
dwellers,” he explained angrily, fists clenching. He was beginning to
break free from the bonds.
“But what difference does it make?”
“We’re above them. They’re dirt,” he spat, his hands getting
looser.
“But your own father was human.”
“I was human, and I hated it. Such a pathetic, short like. Why
bother to live that, when you can instead live for hundreds of years?”
“But why are they so bad?”
“They are just weak, dirty animals.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You never will. No human lover like you will ever know.”
“Well, I don’t want to listen to you any more. Human’s, at this
current moment, are the only friends I have.”
“Yes, but think about it,” he began, lowering his voice
menacingly. “If you told them you were a vampire, what would they
think then?”
“Uh, well, I guess, uh, that they wouldn’t, err, be too…pleased…”
“No, and I think they’d kill you. So, why should you respect
them? We are higher beings than they’ll ever be, but they still hunt us
dead.”
“Enough,” I shouted. “I don’t care. If I keep my secret, I will come
to no harm.”
“Fine, but don’t expect any help from me.”
He suddenly jerked his chair back and threw himself against the
wall. He slammed his skull against the wall repeatedly, until I grabbed
him and pulled him away. In seconds he was out and his heart rate was
slowing.
“Goddamn you! I just wanted to know where Danny was.”
His cold eyes flickered open for a few moments and gave me a
look of pure contempt. Then, they closed forever. I wanted to kick his
head off, I was so angry. But, I contained myself and left the room,
wishing for him to be left to rot.
What was I going to do about Danny? I had promised that I would
help him and I didn’t have the foggiest idea where he was. I felt a
sense of grief and anger, but managed to quell it, not wanting to feel
as angry as I had done previously. I tried to think logically – where had I
seen them? That was no good, a different place each time. Where did
they go afterwards – I don’t know, as I either ended up unconscious or
killed one them each time there was an attack. But what if-
“Excuse me, young man. I was looking for Benny, have you seen
him?”
I span around, not having heard anyone approaching, and
checked to make sure I was safe. It looked that way. It was just that old
man with the anorak and green Wellingtons. In his right hand, he was
fiddling with a small heart shaped watch. He was an odd sight, dressed
for such weather whilst indoors, but something about him had a certain
menace.
“I’m sorry, he’d not here today.”
“No, I didn’t think he would be. At least, not after before.”
It suddenly struck me; Benny’s wasn’t even open now. It was the
early hours of the morning. Was he actually watching the escapade in
the park, not just walking his dog? What was he doing walking his dog
at gone eleven at night? How … odd?
“What do you mean, last night?”
“Don’t play games with me, Yusuf; you know quite well what I’m
talking about.”
Whoa, freaky. He actually knew my name. I stared at him for a
few moments, still unable to decide what to make of him.
“Who are you?” I asked, trying to be as calm as I could be. Some
instinct was telling me not to anger this man.
“The name is Desmond,” he replied, offering his right hand. I
shook it, but since he already knew my name, I just nodded. “So, I take
it that young Master Marco is dead too? I knew he would do that. Such
a stupid, mule-headed vampire; I always he would rather die than give
in.”
I stared at him, bewildered. This guy knew way too much about
me and the stuff which had just been going on.
“I’m telling you now,” he whispered, in a cold, icy, menacing way.
“A trip to the … basement is in order.”
“Huh, what? Excuse me? The cellar?” I blurted, trying to figure
out what he meant. As far as I knew, which incidentally wasn’t actually
very far, Benny’s had no cellar. “Where is the cellar?”
“Ah,” he grunted. “You’ll have to figure that out for yourself.”
“But-”
“No,” he snapped with a fierce command. With that, he suddenly
vanished. I stared in the space where he been, but there was no trace
of him or his Wellington boots. I stared, baffled, at the open space,
wondering if what I had just experienced was a particularly bad effect
of exhaustion. I was certainly very exhausted. But, I needed to find a
cellar. I returned to Benny’s office, checking, mostly out of fear, that
Marco was actually dead. He was.
Now for the matter of the cellar. If Benny had a cellar, I certainly
knew nothing of it. Perhaps it was accessed from the kitchen, or from
the back. First, I went to the kitchen, annoyed to find it locked. Purely
out of frustration, I kicked at the door and naturally, it fell inwards,
smashing a few kitchen utensils and pots as it went. I walked in, the
slightly alien environment looking a little menacing in the dark. As I
vampire, I felt that I should be ashamed of myself for being so scared,
but obviously, that tiny shard of human left in me was still functioning,
not entirely ironed out yet.
I got to the back of the rather large kitchen and sure enough,
there was a door which I had to presume led to the cellar. I tried it –
locked – and then gave it a good few kickings, taking a bit more than
the kitchen door had before it eventually collapsed. I peered into the
dark cellar and looked for Danny. Sure enough, there he was, looking a
bit scraggy, but otherwise he seemed OK. His eyes lit up when he saw
me and he tried to stand, but was pulled back to the ground by
whatever held him there.
The stench was pretty awful, especially for my acute sense of
smell. It was like someone forcing daggers up my nose, so I took only
very shallow breaths, holding them for as long as I could.
“Yusuf,” he croaked. “Good to see you finally made it.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “It’s lucky that I met that small old man.
Have you ever seen him; he’s fairly short, got white hair and wears
Wellingtons, even indoors?”
“Nope, never seen him,” he whispered, too hoarse to speak
properly. “But, can we just leave. This is uncomfortable beyond belief.”
I undid the bonds holding him to the wall and hauled him to his
feet, allowing him to lean heavily on me as he hobbled to the door. I
lifted him up the stairs and gave him a moment to shower. Our only
problem was clothes. I was dressed in a dirty jumper and a dirty pair of
trousers, naturally having slightly dirty feet from no footwear. After he
cleaned up, we tried to decide what to do. We both needed some
clothes – Danny’s were covered in the filth from the last two days of no
toilets and I only owned one pair of fitting trousers from the hospital. I
definitely needed some more [the jacket was torn and ripped too –
plus, I didn’t technically own it, it was still Benny’s].
We agreed that Danny was just about the most suitable
candidate for going out – there were probably people that smelt worse
than he did – and besides, I couldn’t go out in the daylight in this state.
I’d be fried in an instant.
Then he asked me the question.
 “Will you blood me when I get back?”
I stared at him for moment, totally having forgotten our
agreement.
“Yes,” I answered plainly, giving him a small grin. With that, he
set off and about ten minutes later, he returned with two t-shirts (long-
sleeved) and two pairs of combats for me and basically the same for
him. I looked at him with a newfound sense of wisdom. I felt that I had
aged suddenly overnight.
“So, what do we do?” Danny asked, breaking me out of my day-
dream.
“Oh, yeah, uh, give me your hands.”
He held out his left and rights hands and I dug my sharp nails
into their soft fingertips. Danny jerked his hands away with pain, but I
beckoned for him to just let them bleed. No tampering. I cut open my
fingertips again and pressed them tightly against his. I held it in that
way for a few minutes, allowing the pain to subside a little. How were
you supposed to judge when it was ready to let go? I found myself
worrying a little.
After few minutes or so, something inside told me to stop. I licked
my fingertips, stopped them from bleeding, and spat on a tissue,
indicating for Danny to wipe his. I grinned at him and he returned it,
although he looked a little pale.
“Don’t worry I said. It’ll all be better soon.”
He smiled and nodded.
Right there and then, I felt I had done some good. Finally, I felt
that weight lift from my shoulders. I could almost hear Benny’s voice in
my head, telling me that I had done well. Then again, it was probably
Benny that I heard. I had absorbed some of his spirit, after all.
“So, what’s next?”

Epilogue

The Sun. It is surely the most bizarre thing in the Universe. I

mean, think about it. There can be no life on the Earth without it, right?
But we vampires can’t live in it either. So, instead, we have all the luck
of either being confined to a Mountain for all of our lives or enjoying
the boredom of a night-time only existence.
But now, as I lie back, staring at the beautiful pale light of the
moon, I wonder, would it be better if our roles were reversed with
human’s? Would it be better if humans were nocturnal and vampires
couldn’t come out at night? Nah. I mean, surely, ‘Creature of the Night’
is much cooler than ‘Creature of the Day’. Sounds too much like Match
of the Day for my liking…